Convenor of the Ministerial Group on Climate Change, Pete Hodgson, lashed out today at forest industry claims made over the past few days that government policies were leading to the destruction of forests needed to mitigate the cost of Kyoto compliance.The original claims, made last week, came from Forest Owners Association (FOA) president Peter Berg, who said government policies were leading to the rapid conversion of forests to dairy and other purposes.
Mr Berg said the average new rate of new forest planting for the last 30 years has been 44,900 hectares a year. In 2002, it dropped to 22,000 ha and last year to 10,600 ha, with forward orders placed at tree nurseries indicating a further decline this year.
Meanwhile, the gap between the area harvested and area replanted has grown, with increasing areas of harvested forest being converted to dairying and other livestock.
If this trend continues, Mr Berg said, "New Zealand won't have the 33 million tonnes of surplus carbon dioxide credits the government hopes to trade on international markets."
Then, today, Mr Berg said that government policy was triggering deforestation because of "the liability forest owners potentially face if, after harvest, they don't replant forests originally planted before 1990. This could be paying up to $25,000 a hectare."