28th Febuary 2022 Newsletter

PRESIDENTS COLUMN

Today is the last day for nominations to Council and Registration Board.  I am pleased to see the number of nominations we have received to date, which shows members are engaged and want to have a say in the running of the Institute.  It is going to be a very important two years for us as we either bed down the delegation to run the Forest Advisors scheme, or restructure the Institute to take into account the Forest Advisors scheme run from elsewhere.  

I also expect to see a number of proposed changes coming from Government which will effect our profession over the next five months.  The role of native forest planting, permeant exotic forests, changes to the RMA, changes to OIO, wood legality, rural fire review are just a few of the issues I suspect NZIF will be submitting on over the coming months.  If you have a particular interest in any of the above, or any other proposed change coming from Government, please let me know so we can ask you to help contribute to our submission.  NZIF submissions are written as if from our membership, as such please provide us your thoughts so we can incorporate them into our submissions.  If you want, it would be great to start debate by placing your thoughts in the members voice section of this newsletter.  

It is pleasing to see a number of recent papers call for the world to listen more to independent experts (including professional foresters) and less to those who have not undertaken any research or training and just have opinions.  As a professional body we should strongly support this stance, whether it be on forests, climate change or Covid.    Less pleasing was seeing the following in a report in Stuff regarding changes to control carbon farm conversions.  “Environmental groups, including the Environment Defence Society, Fish and Game, and Pure Advantage, have also raised environmental concerns about the speed and scale of farms being sold to convert into exotic pines, including loss of biodiversity, sediment, and fire control”. Once again this is reporters taking the easy way out and not asking professional foresters if there is any truth in the statement.  As we all know grass paddocks (farms) have less biodiversity are more likely to burn (especially on the east coast) and produce more sediment than forests.   I would have thought Fish and Game and Pure Advantage in particular where well aware of this.  I have written to both with a please explain.  I encourage all members to bring statements like this to my attention so we can formally respond to the organisation making such statements as well as to the reporter.  

Now more than ever our sector seems to be in the spotlight.  There are number of incorrect statements being reported along with a very poor understanding of forestry from a number of reporters and financial advisers.  It is important we correct mistruths and continue to promote the many benefits of professional forest practices.  

I wish you all a good couple of weeks.  Hopefully you stay Covid free, however if you are struck down and spending your days in bed, I recommend the latest Journal of Forestry as a good read.  I particularly enjoyed the guest editorial from Tim Payn and the Future Foresters article by Alfred Duval, but there are also excellent articles on the digital future for NZ forestry, the role of the NZ Forest Service in the future amongst others.  I thank all members who take time to contribute to the Journal.  

Have a safe fortnight

Thanks

James

MEMBERS VOICE

Have something to say? comments? or just want to exchange idea's, then send an email to admin@nzif.org.nz 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Members Voice

Little has changed.

Yesterday’s Newsroom article by Dame Anne is headed Opinion.  

But she presents it in a science format, including describing it as contrasting with the covid approach that follows scientific advice, and containing a referenced quote to a top-flight science journal.  All this infers that she can speak with scientific authority on forestry and carbon science in NZ. 

It’s an area of science that is not “her lane.”

She did a thoughtful guest editorial in the 5 February Listener discussing the science/mātauranga Māori debate.  It added light rather than heat. 

In that article she notes that “on the one hand academic freedom does not include the unchallenged right to offer judgements on matters about one which one is inexpert. On the other, the statements about science in the curricular document where unbalanced and provocative…”
She then goes on to offer some suggestions to the Royal Society as to how it might foster robust insightful and well-informed discussion on the relationships between science and mātauranga in teaching, research and public life” and “as a scientific institution, that is its role, and task”.

Dame Anne obviously understands the dangers posed by scientists venturing into areas in which they are not expert.  Yet while happy to publicly espouse the need for scientists to stick to their lane she clearly thinks that such a caution doesn’t apply to her, on the subject of plantation forestry. 

In her 2019 article she made some giant - and erroneous - leaps from scientific papers she had read, to scaremonger about the situation in New Zealand.

In this Feb 2022 article she does it again.   

Her Nature article reference quotes "There is a scandal here. To most people forest restoration means bringing back natural forests, but policy makers are calling vast monocultures 'forest restoration'. And worse, the advertised climate benefits are absent." and “plantations in much poorer at storing carbon than natural forests.”
This article is talking about tropical and subtropical forests.  

The calculations they have used for carbon storage, the forest rotation length and the end use of the forest crops not relevant to the temperate climate plantation forest regimes we have a New Zealand.  

Further down the article “"The reason plantations are so poor at storing carbon is that they are harvested every decade or so, meaning all the carbon stored in the trees goes back into the atmosphere, as the plantation waste and the wood products - mostly paper and chipboards - decompose.”

In New Zealand the biomass accumulated in plantation forests is about ten times that of our natural forest in the 30 year rotations used here.  

Wood from our plantations is used for permanent structures that last 100 years i.e. houses (and if Red Stag and other engineered wood manufacturers have their way, that will rapidly increase and further displace the use of concrete and steel – neither of which is climate-friendly to produce).

I could go through all the other aspects of her opinion that are misleading or false (e.g. tree root depth of plantation trees and native trees are very similar, but she infers that plantation tree root systems are shallower), however hopefully this is sufficient example to make the point.

So, is Newsroom a thoughtful media outlet that requires vetting of the articles to ensure they do not contain outright falsehoods?   i.e. does it endeavour to avoid contributing to fake news?

Regards 

Bridget Robson

__________________________________________________________________________________

Inspired by Owen Springford’s comments in “Members Voice” of the NZIF newsletter of 14 Feb, I share below an email I sent to Dame Anne Salmond in November in response to her concerns about East Cape. I especially liked the bit about indigenous forests burning in countries around the world. 

Anne,

I share a lot of your concerns, and so do many in the commercial forest industry. Sediment is a big issue for everyone but what the public tends to forget is how much erosion was happening in the Gisborne region before the State started planting forests.  The Tarndale slip was erosion’s poster child in the 1980s; the road I once travelled across the head of that valley was taken years ago. There is less erosion in Tairawhiti now because of commercial forestry; though as you say, things should be better. And in terms of fire, the forests that burn in Russia, north America, Australia, Indonesia and Brazil every year are usually indigenous forests, not exotic plantations.

Today, everyone’s social licence to operate is under threat. The Groundswell protest is coming from farmers under pressure to improve their environmental performance. Rugby is being condemned for the number of head injuries amongst players. Fishing companies are objecting to cameras that can record what is being caught where. The plastics industry is under fire for polluting the oceans and putting micro fibres into the very air we breathe. Relative to some of these, commercial forestry is on the side of the angels: it protects the land, produces wood, creates regional employment and stores carbon.

In a big imperfect world, even these things are important.

Regards

Howard Moore

INSTITUTE UPDATE

From the Registrar

SUCCESSFUL 5 YEAR REGISTRATION REVIEW

Continuing Registration:

• Ross Wade of Gisborne

SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION FOR REGISTERED MEMBER

The following Member is now a Registered Member:

• Andre Neumann of Auckland

APPLICATION FOR REGISTERED MEMBER STATUS

The following Member has applied to become a Registered Member:

• Matthew Cotterrell of Dunedin

Any member of the NZIF has the right to object to an application. Any objection should be lodged with the Registrar registrar@nzif.org.nz within 20 working days of the first appearance (28 February 2022) of the notice in this newsletter, specifying the grounds for the objection.

REGISTRATION REVIEWS 2022

The following members are due for 5-year review of their status as a Registered Member during 2022;

• Kevin Reardon
• David Evison
• Mark Morice
• Mort Shepherd
• Vern Harris
• Kenneth Tsang
• John Schrider
• Paul Molloy
• Damian Byrne
• Peter Wilks
• Stephen Chandler
• Jessica Brown
• Peter Casey
• Mike Duckett
• Adam Mills
• Simon Papps

Please make a start on the review procedure by filling out the online form and submitting it early in the year so that everyone’s review gets completed before December 2022.

USE OF NZIF WEBSITE FOR APPLICATIONS, ANNUAL DECLARATIONS AND CPD.

All applications for 5-year Reviews and New Applications for Registered Member status should be made using the online facility on the NZIF website (must be logged in and go to the “Members Only” section). Note that if you do not have time to complete the application in one session there is a “Save” facility that allows you to come back and complete it before submitting.

When you have completed your application you should Submit it otherwise it will remain as Draft and will not progress. Once you have submitted your application you need to make sure your referees respond in a timely manner. You are responsible for ensuring your referees respond.

The annual declaration for Code of Ethics/Professional Indemnity/Real Estate experience can be entered online once the previous year’s tick boxes have been cleared.  Go to your Profile and click on APC (Annual Practising Certificate) and populate the boxes appropriately. All RM’s need to use the online entry from now on. NZIF Admin will advise when the tick boxes are ready to be populated.

CPD – is still entered online but is Submitted only once each year, as at the end of December. Saving your CPD is not the same as Submitting it. Once it has been Submitted you cannot edit it but if something goes awry please get in touch and we will get Admin to assist.

When entering CPD please be aware of the following;

• Make sure each entry has a Title etc and a brief Description to enable auditing.
• It is not necessary to upload a resume of the session, just a summary will do please.
• Check the categories. The NZIF AGM, for example, is Unstructured.
• Regular meetings with industry groups etc are Unstructured.
• First aid courses and ATV/driver training do not count towards CPD.
• Reading does not count.
• On line learning should be referenced so that the link can be checked if required.
• Be aware of using BAS (business as usual) as CPD and using multiple presentations of the same subject.
• While your CPD is approved on an annual basis this does not necessarily mean that you are fulfilling your 5-year CPD requirements.
• Only submit your CPD after you have entered it all, not piece by piece.
• When it is all entered and you are happy with it, then press the Submit button.

Alan Bell, Registrar 
NZIF Registration Board

registrar@nzif.org.nz

+64 27 444 7779

28 February 2022

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Safetree Alert:

Preventing injuries while repairing machinery
Post this alert on your workplace noticeboards. Discuss it at safety or tailgate meetings.
Incident: It was reported by media on Monday 31 January 2022 that a man had died while repairing a machine in a forest in North Canterbury. This incident is still being investigated and our thoughts are with the man’s whanau, friends and workmates.

We don’t yet have details about what caused the incident. But in the meantime, below is some information
from Safetree’s tailgate cards, which you can use to review your own repair and maintenance practices:

Read more

Read more

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Eulogy's for Ted Ramsey and Ernie Nicholson

Ernie Nicholson and Ted Ramsay

They represented the dozens of unsung, loyal, hard working backbone of the forestry industry.  Ted (Geddes Lees Ramsay) passed away on Monday 14th February, aged 90, while Ernie (Ernest Cecil Nicholson) slightly preceded him on Friday 28th January, aged 81.  Both died in Rowena Jackson Retirement Village in Invercargill.  Both their wives - Marilyn and Helen - preceded them by passing away a decade or more before them.  Both spent many of their working years in Invercargill, and most of their careers in the Southland Conservancy of the NZ Forest Service.  Both were valued members of the local section of NZIF, and religiously attended the famous annual tramping trip organised largely by Richard Thum.  Both were great buddies, but they both had very different careers. 

My own posting from Kaikohe District, Northland, to Southland Conservancy in 1977 led me into a long friendship with both men.  Born in Cromwell, Ted was the head Forest Extension Officer for Southland Conservancy, responsible for implementing the government sponsored forestry loan and grant scheme in Southland and Otago, which encouraged many farmers into planting woodlots on their properties with the eventual regional benefit of supplying logs to local sawmills or the export industry.  After retiring from forestry in 1987 at the end of the NZFS, Ted and his lovely wife Marilyn took off for two years VSA in the Cook Islands.

Prior to this, Ted had been a Forest Ranger at Geraldine, and prior to that, a Ranger in Dunedin District where, under the remarkable foresight and sheer bullheadedness - developed from being involved in bombing raids on Dusseldorf during WWII - of Keith Prior, a significant start was made on the development of the Otago Coast Forest, which created a large forest resource in the Otago region.  Ted was so good at his job that when Keith was offered more staff to assist him in this work, he declined by saying that with Ted Ramsay and the then District Clerk Jerry Kavanagh, he was fully staffed and needed no-one else.  Eventually, Clive Anstey and others were to join the team, and Keith left to wreak havoc in Auckland Conservancy, and later, became Ted's boss again as Conservator of Southland.  

Anyone who has had any dealings with Ted would appreciate that he was not a man for making quick repartee or decisions.  One of Ted's mannerisms, and I am sure that this was also one of the things that saved him from destruction by Keith, was to commence any conversation with a colleague or client by first rolling a cigarette.  Several drags later, the discussion was resumed, but never with a hasty answer.

Ernie followed quite a different career path.  Born in Okaihau, Northland, and having joined the NZFS in Kaikohe District as a labourer, he was sent to Kaingaroa Woodsmans' School. After graduating he was given an opportunity to learn the skills of timber inspection under the excellent tutorage of Head Timber Inspector Jim Smith in the Dunedin District of Southland Conservancy.  He was obviously found to be highly competent because he was soon on his way to Invercargill where he plied his skills in a loan role from Conservancy office, being engaged mainly at the Port of Bluff and the sawmilling industry in Southland, for the rest of his career with both the NZFS and his later employer Ministry of Forestry and its subsequent titles. 

Ernie's trademark was a ready smile and callously weeping eyes, which falsely led one to think that he was getting emotional.  

I feel it was a great honour to know these two gentlemen, who I might describe as being salt of the earth.

Dennys Guild

17the February 2022

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ted was the Farm Forestry consultant based in the Southland Conservancy office. He was widely respected by the Farm Forestry community in assisting them establish their wood lots and administering the the subsidy scheme.  I well remember that on pay days his wife came in to collect the pay and Ted counting it out! He once told me that Kieth Prior gave him 20 different listed jobs to do when he was a Ranger in Dunedin. The local section of NZIF organized three day tramps during holiday times and I remember Ted being on one at least. He was a real plodder and never gave up when the going got tough. Some say he was good on the mouth organ.

Ernie was the Timber Inspector for Southland under Jim Smith whom was based in Dunedin. Jim used to organize the tramps in those days and that was probably why Ernie joined. I remember him grumbling about ships getting rid of timber packing at sea before entering port and him being unable to check for parasites. Not an enviable Job checking timber at the treatment plants. He was a very conscientious individual.

Best regards

Chris Main

INSTITUTE EVENTS

FORESTRY AND WOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY TRANSFORMATION PLAN

For those of you that weren't able to attend the presentation, Forestry and Wood processing Industry transformation plan from Jennie Marks, Director, Sector Investment, Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service, please follow the link to view the recording View here

This presentation is worth 1hr of CPD, please remember to register this on your CPD record.

Please note that access to the presentation is only available to NZIF members and is not to be put into the public domain.