Friday, 03 July 2020 13:50

Resource consent to convert productive farmland

Written by  Staff Reporters
Labour Party Forestry spokesperson Stuart Nash. Labour Party Forestry spokesperson Stuart Nash.

If elected next term, Labour says it will require resource consent for any conversion of highly productive farmland into forestry.

Labour Party Forestry spokesperson Stuart Nash said food producing soil will take priority over planting trees to meet climate change challenges.

“Within the first six months of the next term of government, we will revise the National Environment Standards for Plantation Forestry to enable councils to once again determine what classes of land can be used for plantation and carbon forests.” 

“Resource consent would be required for plantation or carbon forests on Land Use Capability Classes 1-5 – often known as elite soils – above a threshold of 50 hectares per farm to allow farmers flexibility in creating small plantations to support environmental goals,” said Nash.

Labour Party rural communities spokesperson Kieran McAnulty says 90% of forestry planting for ETS purpose happens on less productive soils in classes 6-8.

McAnulty says Labour wants to ensure all planting happens away from valuable soils in classes 1-5.

“Forestry is not bad: we need the right tree in the right place, but we also need the right mechanism to ensure this,” said McAnulty.

New Zealand has approximately 12.1 million hectares in farmland and 1.7m in forestry.

Labour says 22,000 hectares of farmland was converted to forestry in 2019, a figure conflicting with Beef + Lamb New Zealand, who claim about 70,000 hectares of productive sheep and beef land has been converted to forestry since 2019.

More like this

Autumn sub clover control sets up pasture for spring

Recent widespread autumn rain will have triggered the germination of subterranean clover seeds, and the resulting seedlings should be allowed to reach the 3–4 trifoliate leaf stage before grazing, says Beef+Lamb NZ.

No to pines

OPINION: Forests planted for carbon credits are permanently locking up NZ’s landscapes, and could land us with more carbon costs, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE).

No more pines!

Forests planted for carbon credits are permanently locking up NZ’s landscapes, and could land us with more carbon costs, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE).

Featured

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.

B+LNZ launches AI assistant for farmers

Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.

National

Machinery & Products

Tech might take time

Agritech Unleashed – a one-day event held recently at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton – focused on technology as an ‘enabler’…

John Deere acquires GUSS Automation

John Deere has announced the full acquisition of GUSS Automation, LLC, a globally recognised leader in supervised high-value crop autonomy,…

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

A step too far

OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…

Save us from SAFE

OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter