Business North July / August 2021

| 67 FORESTRY Northland Wood Council - Hancock Forest Management HFM teams with landcare groups to protect kiwi from page 64 Juvenile kiwis are most prone to attack from stoats and that threatens their survival as a species. For nearly eight years HFM NZ has been part of a couple of landcare groups where its forests bordered or were in the middle of a farming or lifestyle communities in which the landcare groups have placed a ‘ring of steel’ – predator traps within the forest buffer. One of those groups was Marunui Conser- vation on the Southern side of the Brynder- wyns, which had been trapping up there for about 25 years. “They’re a group of land owners who bought the land, planted it, trapped for possums and rats and turned into a lovely naturally regener- ating native area that is pretty much predator free now. “They came to us and pointed out we were on their boundary with possums and stoats running around. “As a company we agreed to set up a trap- ping programme for mustelids to help buffer the work that group had done. “With the core of Marunui Conservation, HFM NZ and Piroa -Brynderwyns Land- care now established across a substantial geographic area, corridors are now being formed.” Tony explains that kiwis are very territorial and as the population increases they compete for land. Some will move from areas protected by predator traps to non-protected areas and potentially be killed by predators. “So that is where my focus has been, working with those landcare groups to help protect the kiwis. “We have about five kiwi recovery projects in Northland that are community based and two which are standalone where HFM does its own predator control. “I do kiwi listening every year with electronic devices and the kiwi call counts are going up, gradually in some areas but in others quite exponentially, and that’s because we’re doing predator control. “A lot of the kiwi recovery groups are under the umbrella of Kiwi Coast, which enables community groups to set up and continue with predator control programmes. They’re there to provide advice and enable people to do their own predator trapping for their kiwi.” With increasing numbers of kiwis, Tony says they also inhabit plantation forestry, which other than harvesting operations, are typically quiet places. “We provide the harvesting crews with train- ing on what they have to do when they see a kiwi and the crews really buy into it. “The forest industry is committed to sustain- ably managing and protecting our forests for perpetuity. There are many reasons for that but much of it is about having an enduring so- cial licence and ensuring the community views us in a positive way. “I do kiwi listening every year with electronic devices and the kiwi call counts are going up, gradually in some areas but in others quite exponentially...” HFM’s Tony Dwane is actively involved with landcare groups helping to protect kiwis. Rosewarne Cable Loggers (RCL) has always seen themany bene its of mechanisation, and strived to have well maintained equipment suitable for its designated purpose. FoundedbyLars andFionaRosewarne in 1997, RCLoperates inNorthland forest estates owned by Rayonier Matariki and Hancock Forest Management, producing 720,000 tonnes of logs on average each year. Over the years RCL has adapted its logging techniques speci ically to increase production, minimise environmental impact and, more importantly, for the health and safety of its workers; getting guys o the ground and intomachines. Congested skid sites andman-machine interaction saw the introduction of de-phased landings. “Two stage trucks were brought in and our operations spread out,” says Lars. “Wood is now extracted and processed at one landing then transported to a load-out skid, where it is sorted, quality-controlled and loaded out. Landings have become less congested; man-machine interaction is at aminimum.” Following a spate of fatalities within the forestry industry in themid-2000s, forest owners called for a higher percentage of their forests to be felledmechanically. Always innovative and forward thinking, and knowing steep slope harvestingwas the next step, Lars came upwith the idea of ROB— a remotely operated bulldozer with a doublewinch systemdesigned to assist fellingmachines on slopes up to 45 degrees. Flexibility and logging innovation Enlisting the help of local engineer Ian May in ROB’s design and in its manufacture, the irst ROB prototype was working by 2013. Since then, Rosewarne andMay have manufactured and sold thirty-two ROBs — of which sixteen have been exported to Canada. “There are currently four machines running on the early version – Mk-1, “ says Lars. “Although still very reliable and safe, Mk2, our upgraded and the current system is more operator-friendly. The biggest enhancement is to the control system. The tension system is now automated and more precise and the communication systembetween bulldozer and felling machine a lot better. Steep slope felling has allowed for larger amounts of the forests to be felledmechanically. We currently manage thirteen crews and operate six steep slope machines within their camps.” RCL operates three di erent types of harvesting systems: a fullymechanised ground-base, hauler and swing yarder. “We provide lexibility with crew con igurations tomeet speci ic needs and combined with earthwork crews, construct the infrastructure best suited to the con iguration, thus o ering a complete package to the Forest Owners.” Re lecting on Rosewarne’s success over the years Lars says other than a passion for innovation, the company’s success really comes down to being a family owned and operated business. • Specialised in all aspects of harvesting timber • Top Contractors engaged with professional workforce • Experienced in Forestry Earthworks • Experienced in Heavy Machine Transportation 09 430 3450 lars@cableloggers.co.nz ROSEWARNE CABLE LOGGERS