42 | FORESTRY Manulife Forest Management New Zealand � Kim Newth Forestry key to rural employment MFM (NZ) is also committed to managing forests as a renewable and sustainable resource. Forestry plays a pivotal role in the New Zealand economy, with the value of the country’s forestry exports sitting at $5.75 billion in 2024. It is also a big contributor to employment, particularly in rural areas. According to MPI, up to 40,000 people are employed in wood production and processing in New Zealand. Northland and the Central North Island are New Zealand’s most heavily planted forest regions, and more than a third of the country’s forestry workforce is employed in Northland, Bay of Plenty and the Waikato. Manulife Forest Management New Zealand Ltd (MFM (NZ)), the NZ timberland division of Manulife Investment Management, is one of New Zealand’s largest plantation forest managers, with forests located in the key plantation regions of Northland, Central North Island and Bay of Plenty. In total, MFM (NZ) manages 218,000 hectares of New Zealand forestry and reserve land, with the productive area being around 177,000 hectares. This forestry estate brings considerable flow-on benefits for rural communities where MFM (NZ) operates. “Forestry, by nature, is a rural business, and we have a preference for employing local people,” says Andrew Widdowson, MFM (NZ)’s national operations manager. “We directly employ nearly 100 full-time staff across four offices in Whangārei, Tokoroa, Rotorua and Tauranga. In addition, we have 140 contracting businesses across Northland, Waikato, Central North Island and the Eastern Bay of Plenty, all regionally based businesses. If you add up all the contracted employees, it would total around 1300 people.” The forestry supply chain spans many different areas of activity, from forestry establishment and silviculture, (with nurseries supplying seed stock part of that), through to harvesting and distribution to markets. As Andrew observes, each step of that chain generates jobs and economic benefits. Forestry is a high-risk industry, but MFM (NZ) has long been proactive on reducing risk through early adoption of innovations like tethered felling machines. “We’re at the point now where 96 to 97% of our harvesting is fully mechanised – it’s all about eliminating exposure to critical risk activities. We also have a camera-based fatigue management system that’s designed to keep drivers safe on the road.” MFM (NZ) is also committed to managing forests as a renewable and sustainable resource. It is dual certified with both the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). Attracting young people into forestry careers is challenging, but Andrew says exciting wood council initiatives such as Discover Forestry New Zealand (www.discoverforestry. co.nz) are doing a great job of connecting students and teachers with the forestry sector. “We’re also involved with another great programme in the Central North Island called the Generation Programme, aimed at placing young school leavers in forestry work and giving them foundational training.” There has been a lot of upheaval in forestry training over recent years, with ITOs having been disestablished to make way for Te Pūkenga. Now, Te Pūkenga itself is being restructured. “[But] we continue to look for ways to strengthen the training supply chain so it can be meaningful and efficient for our industry,” Andrew says. Meanwhile, the current annual harvest from the MFM (NZ) estate is approximately 4.1 million cubic metres of largely radiata pine. Some 40% of that timber is sold into the domestic sawlog and pulp market. Supporting the export side of the ledger, MFM (NZ) joined forces with Rayonier in 2020 in a joint venture deal with AVA Timber, one of New Zealand’s leading forest products exporters. “This has enabled economies of scale, for example in freight, and gives us the market access we need to countries such as South Korea, where AVA has a 40% market share.” • Specialised in all aspects of harvesting timber • Top Contractors engaged with professional workforce • Experienced in Forestry Earthworks • Experienced in Heavy Machinery Transportation 09 430 3450 lars@cableloggers.co.nz ROSEWARNE CABLE LOGGERS
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