Winter 2018

NEWSLETTER IN THIS ISSUE:

Introduction

Establishment Update

Marlborough / Nelson

Drones in Forestry

From the Backpage

2 Forest Management Group

Introduction FROM THE DIRECTORS

Welcome to the Winter edition of our newsletter.

We are well into winter now and spring is

around the corner. As always change is

happening with forestry being no exception.

The Government’s 1 billion tree plan

continues with the Zero Carbon Act, and

reports show the need to plant from 1.5 - 2.5

million hectares of new forest in the next 30

years on what is currently grazing land to

meet our international climate commitments.

This will be a mix of exotic and native trees.

Alongside this there is an ETS review coming

out for consultation in the next few months,

which will see some major changes

implemented in the next 18 months.

With a National Environmental Standard

(NES) for Forestry in place, planning of

planting and harvesting is becoming more

critical than ever. The days of just picking a

site to plant or turning up to just log a forest

are gone. Careful planning and documentation

of all stages are now required by law.

Technology will pay a vital role in achieving

this. We are moving to take on new

technology such as drones, new mapping

technology and data recording. This will make

for a streamlined process that ensures

processes are done correctly and recorded.

Forestry now has a national Contractor

Certification scheme, Safe Tree, driven by

Health and Safety changes. We are proud that

FML is certified under this scheme. This gives

our clients piece of mind knowing our systems

and processes have been audited and verified

by an independent body. We are also working

toward having all our contractors certified

within the next 18 months.

A busy and interesting spring and summer

ahead – keep warm, spring isn’t far away.

David Janett

Director

Winter 2018 Newsletter 3

Establishment Update The establishment season is in full swing.

The programme kicked off at the beginning of

June in Canterbury, with really wet and cold

conditions, but the crews carried on with the

task. We are half way through and hope to

finish by the end of August with a whopping

580ha of new planting in Otago and

Southland along with about 150ha of

restocking. This year the Canterbury region is

catching up with around 450ha of new

planting, Hawkes Bay (350ha) and

Marlborough/Nelson (230ha).

It is our biggest programme so far and it will

continue next year. Everyone is impatiently

waiting for the Government announcement

regarding the changes in the Afforestation

Grant Scheme programme (AGS). With

proposed changes, MPI would provide

$1,500 - $1,800 per ha for growers to plant

new small to medium sized forest which can

be immediately registered into ETS.

Contact Scott Henry

(scotth@forestmanagement.co.nz) to find

out more about the fund or planting.

Terry has been planting for 40

years!

4 Forest Management Group

Marlborough / Nelson Tasman Forest Management Ltd (TFM) has

been operating in the Nelson/Marlborough

region since 2001. Offices are located in

Blenheim and Mapua and run by experienced

staff. The company services a wide area that

stretches down to Murchison, on the West

Coast and the Inland Kaikoura Road on the

eastern side.

TFM has employed numerous contractors

over the years but the crew which has been

with us the longest is Burson Logging from

Wakefield. TFM won a tender for

management of the Motueka Forests

(Marahau, Kaiteriteri, Pearse and Pokororo)

run by GMO in 2005. Bursons were

contracted to CHH but were offered to TFM

with the management contract. Since then

Neil (Tote) Burson has handed the reins to

Ian, his son. Bursons have worked across

both provinces but most of their work has

been for GMO and lately Gibbons Forestry

Holdings in Murchison. They have recently

been given

a break

from the

travel to

Murchison,

with some

winter work

close to

home in the

Sylvan

Mountain

Bike Park

(photo).

TFM’s main work is managing several

medium sized forest estates for CNBM,

Gibbons Holdings and Aubade Global

Resources. There has also been

considerable work in the past with Rayonier

in the Queen Charlotte Forest and

Underwood Farm Ltd. This is complemented

with regularly procuring small to medium

sized forests to project manage the

harvesting. There are also 8 to 9 steady ‘on

truck’ suppliers to TFM in both provinces.

TFM’s highest annual production of 244,000

tonnes was achieved in 2017 but has sat

around the 220,000 - 240,000 level for

several years.

There is also some small regular silviculture

work with the management of the above

estates and this has been carried out by

Nelson Forest Managers, Action Forest

Management and Tree & Forest Ltd.

Winter 2018 Newsletter 5

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

Nelson/Marlborough has a great level of

infrastructure for forestry and logging to

flourish. Picton Port exports 650,000 -

700,000 jas per annum. Picton is quite

competitive for AWG pricing with 5 exporters

and good options for China, Korea and India.

Nelson Port exports around the million mark

each year. Blenheim has two larger sawmills

with Timberlink and Kaituna. Both take a high

portion of Pruned and large structural log.

Nelson has 2 large structural mills as well as

NPI which takes Chip and LVL log. TFM also

sends a lot of Pruned to IPL in Greymouth

and Westco in Hokitika, which allows FML

West Coast operations to backload export to

Nelson Port. Domestic options have proven

to be a lifesaver in the past, when export

prices have dropped.

The Nelson province has also been a

‘contractor innovation’ area of NZ for a

number of years. A combination of steeper

terrain, high safety focus and consistent work

has allowed several contractors to develop

means of getting more people into machinery

cabs than on the ground. This has led to

development of more grapple yarding,

mechanised felling and tethered felling/

shovelling operations.

TFM currently has 4 hauler crews with

means to grapple extract logs and 3

crews with tethered felling/shovelling

options (photo).

Over the years TFM has managed a

number of difficult operations in

challenging environments such as the

Marlborough Sounds and Nelsons’

Separation Point Granite’s. This has

meant we have become adept at the

‘project management’ aspect of

ensuring operations are safe,

productive and environmentally

acceptable and return good value to

our clients.

6 Forest Management Group

FMG has taken to the skies in an innovative

approach to capture imagery and information

from a birds-eye view. UAVs (Unmanned

Aerial Vehicles) are becoming more common

in the forest industry, as they provide a cost-

effective way of gathering imagery and

elevation data across land.

“We are now using Phantom 4 Pro drones,

with high-quality cameras, this makes

mapping effortless” Daniel explains. “These

four-rotor drones have an incredible amount

of technology including obstacle sensors, a

stabilised camera, the ability

to return home unassisted

and many more features.”

By taking hundreds of photos

and stitching them together,

the final product is a seamless

aerial image of your forest.

Some of the applications we

have been using this for

include:

• Bare land planting

• Wind / Fire events

• Post-harvest assessment

• Planting, stocking and

survival

• Skid Management

• Current day imagery

The National Environmental Standards for

Plantation Forestry is a good example of how

drone mapping can be used to show the

environmental controls and measure are put

in place, as well as tracking any changes. For

sensitive areas that have been harvested, we

can now fly a completed job and have a

record of how the site was managed and left

after completion.

Drones in Forestry

Aerial image of a forest

harvest operation close to

Dunedin. This flight took

over 500 images in 30

minutes of flying

Winter 2018 Newsletter 7

Planting

assessment

and stocking

checks will be

another use

for the drones.

Traditional

assessment

can be time-

consuming

and usually

only samples

of the planting

can be assessed. However now we can fly

the whole block, and find unstocked areas,

tree defects / deficiencies and ensure the

spacing between trees is adequate.

Data Elevation Models (DEM) can be

additionally created. The photos are all

tagged with GPS info, and when overlapped

the software determines the height of the

ground. FMG has been very surprised at how

good the final product has been.

Before photo

of Google

Earth satellite

imagery, and

after with the

drone imagery

overlaid.

Note the

Increased

detail in the

gullies &

ridges!

To find out more about drone capability

and how it can be applied to your forest,

contact Daniel Robertson

(danielr@forestmanagement.co.nz)

FROM THE BACKPAGE Welcome to the team Marie!

FOREST MANAGEMENT

LTD

PO Box 3718, Christchurch 8140

Head Office

Ph: (03) 343 4101

TASMAN FOREST

MANAGEMENT

Marlborough

Ph: (03) 577 6815

Nelson

Ph: (03) 540 3177

FOREST MANAGEMENT

(NI) LTD

Napier

Ph: (06) 833 7529

www.forestmanagement.co.nz

Things are always moving fast here at FMG.

We would like to welcome our new office

administrator, Marie Cairns.

Marie joined the

company in May.

She has a

background in

administration /

accounts. Marie is

married to Graham

and has two adult

girls and a fur baby

(Buddy). Marie

enjoys swimming, outdoor activities, family

and friends.

Blenheim office relocation!

We would like to announce that the Blenheim

office has moved from Renwick to a new

office location on 20A Bomford Street,

Mayfield in Blenheim where we will continue

to serve our customers in the same friendly

manner as before. Our new office number is

(03) 577 6815. We look forward to seeing you

in our new and larger office space.

Contractors Certification!

FML is now Certified under Safetree

Contractors Certification Programme.

FML(NI) and

TFM will

follow soon.