New Zealand: Forestry
CARBON FORESTS: First, prove there's a problem, says Parker
18 Sep 2020
Details of the Government’s response to concerns about farmland being converted to carbon forests are starting to emerge.
Restoring forests can reduce greenhouse gases
24 Aug 2020
There is one straightforward way to reduce greenhouse gases: by taking better care of the world’s natural forests.
OPINION: NZ pellet industry is clean
16 Jul 2020
Bioenergy Association chief executive Brian Cox responds to claims that burning wood pellets is bad for the environment.
We'll need more building wood, say growers
7 Jul 2020
A push to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the construction sector will inevitably lead to more wood in buildings, forest owners say.
No carbon-zero without new forests
23 Jun 2020
Government suggestions that it will limit forestry conversions to 40,000 hectares a year could prevent the country being carbon-neutral by 2050, forest owners says.
Forest owners want tax on burning of coal
27 Feb 2020
Forest owners are calling for a $200-a-tonne tax on the burning of coal and the implementation of the Government’s promised “wood-first” policy.
AI to monitor deforestation
5 Feb 2020
Artificial intelligence is being used to measure forest – and carbon – loss in New Zealand.
Give us a choice, foresters tell Parliament
4 Feb 2020
The owners of forests already in the Emissions Trading Scheme should be able to choose whether to switch to a new form of carbon accounting, MPs have heard.
Foresters query claims over dairy land sales
4 Nov 2019
Forest owners are challenging claims that vast areas of productive farmland are being turned into carbon forests by foreign investors.
Logging study reveals huge hidden emissions
13 Sep 2019
The wood industry is a massive source of uncounted carbon emissions, according to a pioneering study.
Govt expects $7b windfall from new forestry rules
11 Sep 2019
The move to new forestry carbon accounting rules will earn the Government $7 billion over the next 30 years.
It's time to file post-89 forestry returns
28 Jun 2019
Carbon forestry returns for post-1989 are due this weekend – and officials are urging people to get them right.
App tracks deforestation - as it happens
14 Jun 2019
A new website allows companies to track deforestation in their supply chains as it happens, with campaigners urging more effort to stop it.
‘Forest restoration’ puts climate targets at risk
11 Apr 2019
Implementing current pledges of forest restoration under the Bonn Challenge will mean the 1.5deg climate goal is still missed, a new analysis says.
New forestry rules will adopt 'averaging' system
28 Mar 2019
New Zealand will adopt an “averaging” system of carbon accounting for forests, meaning owners will no longer have to measure and report on the amount of carbon being stored or face a carbon liability when trees are harvested.
Second iwi wants inclusion of older forests
1 Feb 2019
Another major iwi is pushing for tradable carbon credits for a much wider range of forests – and says dairy farmers should be liable for emissions from their businesses.
Government releases new forestry rules
20 Dec 2018
The Government has released further details of changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme’s forestry rules.
Forestry boom turns Ireland into an ecological dead zone
12 Oct 2018
Sponsored conifer plantations now cover hundreds of hectares of what once was rich farmland in Ireland, smothering the landscape and driving out endangered wildlife.
New forestry rules will boost planting, says Govt
11 Sep 2018
Changing forrestry accounting rules under the Emissions Trading Scheme is expected to lead to the planting of 102 million trees in new forests by 2030.
Farmers want clear carbon price guides
15 Aug 2018
Farmers want to know what range carbon prices will be over five-year periods, the Farm Forestry Association says.
Bulk of PNG export timber illegally logged
31 Jul 2018
Millions of tonnes of illegally logged Papua New Guinea timber are being exported to China and from there to the world as finished wood products, a new report has revealed.
Taxpayers could be left holding carbon bill
26 Jul 2018
Owners of post-1989 forests due for harvest might be tempted to arbitrage carbon credits, leaving taxpayers with the bill and driving liquidity out of the carbon market.
At last, we get to see proposed ETS forestry rules
11 Jun 2018
The Government has finally released some of its proposed changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme’s forestry rules – but the sector won’t see the rest until the end of the year.
Northland iwi kicks off Billion Trees planting
31 May 2018
The first deal has been done under the Government’s Billion Trees programme.
Government pumps $15m into new forest service
11 May 2018
The Government will set aside an extra $15 million in next week’s Budget to boost the capacity of the new forestry fervice.
The wood world's talking about the Jones boy
22 Mar 2018
The wood industry is in love with its new forestry minister.
Foresters like the look of Billion Trees scheme
26 Feb 2018
Forest owners say they are starting to think the Government is serious about forestry.
OIO cutting rights role wrong move, say foresters
23 Jan 2018
Giving the Overseas Investment Office approval of the sale of forestry cutting rights will jeopardise the Government’s billion trees plan, forest owners say.
Mixed forests may not resist climate change
5 Dec 2017
Researchers have confirmed once again that a good forest is a mixed forest, a natural one, with a diversity of species.
AirNZ eyes paying landowners to plant trees
22 Nov 2017
Air New Zealand wants to set up a private afforestation scheme under the Emissions Trading Scheme to offset some of its greenhouse gas emissions.
TREE TALK: Why we need a better forest philosophy
9 Nov 2017
On November 6, 1217, Henry III’s Charter of the Forest gave ordinary English people back their traditional rights to use royal hunting grounds for livestock grazing and collecting firewood.
Forests can bring 1.5deg Paris target closer
3 Nov 2017
Protecting the world’s forests could achieve a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions cuts needed to meet the 1.5°C Paris target, scientists say.
Government planting target OK, say forest owners
27 Oct 2017
The Government’s plan to plant an extra 50,000 hectares of new forest a year is “optimistic but achievable”, say forest owners.
High land prices key blocker to forest planting
7 Sep 2017
New Zealand won’t get more carbon-sequestering forests until land prices fall.
Greens want high-end wood products industry
5 Sep 2017
The Green Party wants a regional research institute to develop high-value wood products as part of a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Foresters hope next government will vote for trees
31 Aug 2017
Forest owners are hoping next month’s general election will lead to more forestry-friendly government policies – especially if New Zealand First is in the driving seat.
Fund wants to see 5283ha of new forest
10 Aug 2017
The Government’s reinstated Afforestation Grants Scheme will fund 5283 hectares of new forest this year.
Foresters greet environmental standards move
8 Aug 2017
The introduction of a national environmental standard for plantation forestry is vitally needed, forest owners say.
Using forests to manage carbon still a heated debate
4 Aug 2017
The best way of managing trees and forests for climate change and accounting for contributions of forests and forestry activities in carbon budgets remains hotly contested.
PICKY PROBLEM: What makes a carbon forest?
3 Aug 2017
The regeneration of vast areas of carbon-storing native forests is being hampered by “pickiness” over the definition of carbon forests.
Foresters fine, but the ETS has some problems
2 Aug 2017
The forestry sector has behaved rationally in response to the Emissions Trading Scheme - but the scheme itself hasn’t always been rational, a new analysis shows.
ETS changes of little help, say foresters
1 Aug 2017
The Government’s latest changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme will do nothing to get more trees in the ground, the forestry sector says.
It pays off to pay landowners to keep trees
25 Jul 2017
Paying landowners not to cut down trees is cheaper than the carbon-related costs the destruction of the forests would cause, new research shows.
Scientists fear EU rules will hide forest carbon loss
20 Jun 2017
Leading researchers have condemned attempts to change the way carbon from trees will be counted in Europe.
BUDGET: No boost for tree-planting
26 May 2017
The Government’s Budget will not get landowners planting trees on the scale needed to meet New Zealand’s Paris Agreement commitments, forest owners say.
Foresters want carbon price range and ETS promise
11 May 2017
A price range for carbon and a promise that changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme will be backdated would get landowners planting carbon-sequestering trees now, says the Forest Owners’ Association.
One power station deal eats up Govt forest fund
5 May 2017
New Zealand will need an extra 17,000ha of new forest to offset emissions from a new gas-fired power station at Otorohanga, the Green Party says.
Deadline looms for forest planting grants
27 Apr 2017
Applications for the latest round of the Government’s Afforestation Grants Scheme close tomorrow.
Native forests have potential to earn millions
26 Apr 2017
Landowners with 10,000 hectares of native forest could earn $1.5 million a year in carbon credits, a new report says.
Farmers join in as landowners return to planting
29 Mar 2017
Landowners are planting forests again – and farmers looking to offset emissions appear to be among them.
Nature is not an economic handbrake: Environmental Defence Society
Fri 16 May 2025
Nature is not a handbrake on economic growth – the two must go hand in hand, attendees heard on the final day of the Environmental Defence Society’s Dollars and Sense conference this week.
Methanex closure comes early this year
Wed 14 May 2025
The almost-now-annual closure of Methanex has come earlier this year, giving more confidence that the electricity system will get through the winter without a fuel shortfall.
Climate-denying farming groups attack govt’s methane strategy
Fri 16 May 2025
A trio of farming groups is claiming that a survey shows 95% of farmers have rejected the government’s methane strategy.
NZ could ditch 8 million fossil fuel machines right now to slash emissions
7 May 2025
The majority of the country’s ten million fossil fuel machines could be replaced cost-effectively with electric equivalents right now, new research from Rewiring Aotearoa has revealed.
Air New Zealand announces less ambitious emissions ‘guidance’
2 May 2025
Air New Zealand has published its first “emissions guidance,” saying it expects to reduce net “well-to-wake” greenhouse gas emissions from jet fuel by 20-25% by 2030, from a 2019 baseline.
FMA exemption grants compliance relief to climate reporters
7 May 2025
The Financial Markets Authority has signed off on new exemptions giving climate-reporting entities a break from some of their compliance duties.
