Business North July / August 2021

72 | Community prospers from forestry business Northland currently harvests 330,000 tonnes a year. Rayonier Matariki manages the harvesting and sale of logs, to domestic mills or export. from page 70 Rayonier Matariki Forests FORESTRY of Auckland. Of the total land base of 38,000 hectares, 23,000 hectares is productive forest and predominantly pinus radiata. There is a mix of ownership structures with some estates owned by Rayonier Matariki, some under joint venture with iwi, some under Crown Forest Licences and some under Forest Rights. “Effectively we manage the Matariki Forest estate on behalf of the owners of Rayonier Matariki to maximise value for the sharehold- ers, but also with a strong commitment to our joint venture partners and our iwi land owners,” says Will. “A lot of the Crown Forests will end up pass- ing to iwi through Treaty settlement process- es. So we’re really guardians of the land until those ownership processes are settled, and we take that responsibility very seriously.” Rayonier’s broad forest management encompasses land preparation and forest establishment and ongoing silviculture right through to harvesting, logging, sale and the forest re-establishment. Most soils in Northland are heavy com- pacted clays and land preparation frequently includes line ripping to make the soil more friable prior to planting. With most trees harvested at 26 years old it’s a sustainable multiple rotation long-term process spanning generations of foresters. “We provide seeds to external nurseries who grow the seedlings. We then take the seedlings and plant them in our estate. “We manage the harvesting through con- tractors and also manage the sale of the logs, whether that is through domestic mills or to export. “We prioritise and fulfil all our domestic customer orders to the mills and the balance is provided to export through Northport in Marsden. If there was additional capacity at the mills we could certainly meet that demand.” Will says Northland currently har- vests 330,000 tonnes a year, but its long-term average is going to be about 450,000 tonnes in a few years’ time. Will’s team includes a Production Manager responsible for harvesting, cartage and log sales, a Harvesting Forester who looks after harvest planning and road construction and two Harvesting Foresters who looks after the harvesting crews. An administration person ensures the office is kept ship shape. Upwards of 100 contractors are employed locally fulfilling everything from land prepara- tion, planting, thinning and pruning, harvest- ing and cartage. “All of our contractors are very important to us and we have a very good long-term rela- tionship with them. “We recognised very early on that to have a successful forestry business you have to have a successful workforce. “So we have worked hard to provide them with longer-term contracts, training and get- ting alongside finance companies to help the contractors get the funding for equipment.” The engagement of a large contractor workforce means wages earned flow straight back into the community but the value of that engagement is more than just wages. “In addition to the contractors that we have direct contact with, there are all the suppli- ers that go with them like service suppliers and product suppliers. So there is that whole down stream cash flow effect that adds to the prosperity, health and well being of the community.” While also contributing and investing in the community by way of sponsorships, a lot of Rayonier Matariki’s forests have public use. “We promote that as long as its responsi- ble use,” says Will. “There are a lot of people who use our forests as parklands. There are walkers and horse riders, runners, mountain bikers. We are big supporters of people enjoy- ing our forests.” 0800 435 684 | www.helinorth.co.nz | Dargaville & Northland Pasture spraying  Gorse spraying Forestry spraying  Pre-plant sprays Fertiliser applications  Aerial lifting Frost protection  Fire control services Chartered Flights www.leathwickcontractors.co.nz PO Box 795, Whangarei 0140 Shaun Leathwick 027 445 3218 leathwick.earthmoving@gmail.com Proudly supporting Rayonier Matariki SPECIALIZING IN: BULLDOZING & COMPACTION • EXCAVATORS & SITEWORKS • FORESTRY ROADING • LAND DEVELOPMENT RURAL WORKS • WETLAND DEVELOPMENT