Forest Health

1
Forest Health Biosecurityan Industry
Perspective

• Peter Clark

2
Industry Wish List

• Maintain a healthy and productive forest
• Manage existing health problems
• Help to stop exotic pests from entering
• Support government incursion response programmes
• Support forest health researchers
• Maintain New Zealands clean and green image

3
What makes pine plantations in New Zealand unique?

• Geographical isolation
• Difficult for exotic pests to enter
• No native pine species in New Zealand
• Indigenous pests not co-evolved
• But
  things are changing..

4
New challenges!

• Higher biosecurity risks at border
• Sea containers
• Used car imports
• Tourists, used camping gears, etc
• Genetics of pine becomes narrower
• Climate change
• Non-tariff trade barriers

5
Existing Pest Problems
There are additional animal pest problems such as
possum, goat, samba deer, etc. not listed here.
6
Potential New Threats

• Pine pitch canker
• Western gall rust
• Annosus root and butt rot
• Pinewood nematode
• European pine shoot moth
• Gypsy moth
• Mountain pine beetle
• Nun moth
• ..and many more

7
Industry Response

• Risk Management/ Biosecurity
• Forest health surveillance, forest condition
  monitoring
• Pests and Disease Management
• Aerial Dothi spray, Dothi resistant breeds,
  bio-protected treestocks, bait station
• Support research
• FBRC, FHRC, through voluntary levy
• FIDA, co-funding
• 
  ..but, is it enough?

8
Currently, industry is facing

• More absentee (foreign) ownership
• Forest ownership changes more frequently
• Lack of long-term vision and planning
• Lack a strong industry leadership
• Lack a commodity levy that can be used to tackle
  various forestry issues including biosecurity and
  forest health

9
Emerging concerns

• Deforestation carbon emission
• Cost recovery scheme on government pest
  eradication programmes
• Trade barriers due to pests and diseases
• Phytophthora kernoviae case
• Potential restrictions on aerial copper spray
• Restrictions on export log fumigation

10

• Poor profitability

11
Some Forest Owner Perspectives

• ROI is generated from
• Cash surpluses from forest harvest and
• Asset protection, enhancement and eventual
  disposal

12
Some Forest Owner Perspectives

• Value for money

13
Incursion Response

• Word of caution to MAF

14
What we should do?

• Short-term
• Continue to do what we have been doing and
• Improve transparency and communication with
  industry funders of forest health and biosecurity
  programmes
• Long-term
• Establish a commodity levy to fund projects that
  will help the industry to be better prepared to
  deal with these emerging concerns and future
  challenges