Hancock Forest Management (NZ) Ltd Stakeholder Newsletter January 2017

Hancock Forest Views Welcome to Hancock Forest Views Welcome to the fifteenth edition of Hancock Forest Views, a newsletter prepared by Hancock Forest Management New Zealand Limited (HFM) to keep our stakeholders informed of what is happening in our forests. We hope you find the newsletter interesting and welcome your feedback.

New Guidelines for Managing Kiwi in Plantation Forests The recent release of a new set of guidelines for managing kiwi in plantation forests is assisting HFM staff and contractors in the north to better manage kiwi in our forests. North Island brown kiwi are relatively widespread in the upper North Island and routinely use the habitat found in plantation forests including many of our HFM forests in Northland.

While the growing forest and even recently harvested areas provide fantastic kiwi habitat, there is the potential for operations such as harvesting to impact on kiwi. The forestry guidelines were developed by Kiwis for Kiwi with the input of

Department of Conservation kiwi specialists and forestry companies, including HFM. The goal of the guidelines is to develop a set of practical and effective steps that can be taken to improve kiwi survival in production forests.

The updated guidelines are accompanied by a practical training module for forestry companies to provide training to staff and contractors on how to identify kiwi sign, what to do if kiwi are present, and emergency procedures should they encounter eggs or a wounded bird during operations.

HFM Environmental Planner Tony Dwane has now completed training with all of the HFM harvesting and engineering crews working in our Northland forests.

Tony commented that many crew members have never encountered kiwi first hand. The training was timely as often individuals have heard or seen sign that may have been kiwi, but were unaware of what they had encountered or what exactly to do.

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HFM Environmental Planner Tony Dwane with adult female ‘Poppy’ found in Waipu Forest. Poppy was tracked via transmitter as part of a

kiwi release programme in the neighbouring Marunui Conservation Area.

Kiwi training with Curtis Logging Crew 86

The recent discovery of a rare native plant Utricularia australis (native bladderwort) in Lake Te Kahika in Te Kao Forest in the Far North has excited ecologists. The discovery of the critically endangered plant in a pond at the outlet to Lake Te Kahika was made during a survey by ecologists from Northland Regional Council, DOC and NIWA. Te Kao is managed by HFM under lease from the landowners, Parengarenga Incorporation.

The discovery is particularly noteworthy given the rare bladderwort is now found in only a handful of

sites in the Northland Region, two of which are in dune lakes located within Te Kao Forest (Lakes Te Kahika and Morehurehu).

The native bladderwort has been under rapid decline in Northland in recent decades, thought to be due to increased nutrients from intensified land use and competition from exotic aquatic species.

The identification of a second population within the plantation forest is particularly pleasing given the bladderwort is considered a keystone species and an indicator of good aquatic health.

Both Lake Te Kahika and Lake Morehurehu had previously been identified as ‘Recommended Areas for Protection’ by the Department of Conservation due to their rare habitat type. They are also classified as ‘High Convervation Value’ areas under HFM’s FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council) certification. As part of the FSC requirements, HFM has in place management plans for both dune lakes focussing on retirement of the lake margins and ongoing animal pest control with the goal of establishing a stable native buffer to the lakes to enhance the rare habitat values present.

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The training will provide a greater network of people who are able to identify kiwi sign which in turn will enable HFM staff to manage populations accordingly. It will also ensure crew members know what to do if they do encounter kiwi.

The guidelines also cover recommended forest management options where kiwi are present. In line with the guidelines, predator control has been a key focus for HFM to assist kiwi populations in our forests. It is estimated that only 5% of kiwi chicks will survive in the wild without some form of predator control; the main predators being mustelids (particularly stoats) and to a lesser degree feral cats which have a major impact on juvenile survival.

HFM manages a targeted Community Pest Control programme in Whatoro Forest north of Dargaville in conjunction with our forest neighbours and also provides support for community kiwi conservation

projects adjacent to our forests at Waipu, Whanui and Ngunguru.

Dogs are a significant threat to adult kiwi and HFM has, for many years, made kiwi aversion training a mandatory requirement for people seeking permission to access our northern region forests with dogs.

We are optimistic that these practical steps, along with many other community kiwi recovery projects throughout Northland, will help halt the decline of kiwi in the wild.

Discovery of Rare Aquatic Plant in Lake Te Kahika

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Forest management certification has been in place in NZ for many years with around 67% of the plantation forest estate now certified to FSC®. HFM has been certified to FSC since 2004.

Recently a second sustainability certification system has become available in New Zealand in the form of PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). Adoption of PEFC certified systems in some of our key markets, notably China, was a key driver for the NZ forest industry to get a PEFC system in place for NZ. Our goal is to have both FSC and PEFC certified logs available to NZ processors to meet international customers’ demand.

PEFC works slightly differently to FSC, endorsing

locally developed standards provided they meet PEFC’s requirements around development processes and content. Given NZ’s close alignment with Australian markets NZ chose to adapt the existing Australian Forestry Standard to NZ, a process managed by Standards New Zealand with input from local stakeholders. The resulting standard (NZS AS 4708) was endorsed by PEFC in late 2015, opening the way for forest certification to PEFC to take place.

HFM made the decision to seek certification to PEFC in particular due to a request from one of our key customers which requires PEFC for market access. HFM’s first certification audit took place in November 2016 following which our Certification Body confirmed a recommendation to certify HFM to the standard, subject to resolving a number of administrative issues.

It is hoped that HFM will be in a position to be dual certified to both PEFC and FSC by end of the first quarter of this year, making us the first forestry company in New Zealand to be certified to both systems.

You can find out more about PEFC at their website www.pefc.org.

HFM Seeks PEFC Certification

HFM and one of our harvesting contractors, AG & G Sinton, achieved recognition at the annual Waikato Regional Council Erosion and Sediment Control Awards in September. The Erosion and Sediment Control Awards recognise excellence in earthworks and forestry operations in the region. HFM and AG & G Sinton Logging were joint winners of the Forestry section for harvesting operations undertaken by Sinton Crew 14 in the Pokaiwhenua catchment, located to the east of Tokoroa in Kinleith Forest.

Sinton Crew 14 have been cable logging in the challenging steep gully systems of the catchment for a number of years. HFM had in the past recognised the crew with an Environment Award for consistently going the extra mile to protect the riparian margin, soils and native forest remnants in the area, in challenging topography. To have the crew’s success also recognised by the Waikato Regional Council was particularly pleasing.

HFM and Sinton Logging win Waikato Regional Council Award

AG & G Sinton Crew 14

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Managing operations around historic sites is something the harvesting and engineering crews in Houpoto Forest in Eastern Bay of Plenty are becoming well accustomed to. Due to extensive historic occupation of the area by tangata whenua there are numerous recorded historic sites in the forest and crews periodically encounter new sites during the course of an operation.

A recent harvesting operation on the gentle Tauwhare Flats adjacent to the Motu River is just such an example. When originally harvest planned the area had only one confirmed historic site; a pa site on a ridge near the river. Harvesting around this site was planned for and covered by a Heritage NZ Authority.

As operations commenced to open up the block for harvesting access, excavator operator Laurence Papuni from Wilson Bros Earthmoving noted unusually black soils and possible hangi stones in the area and reported this through to HFM. Subsequent checks by archaeologist John Coster confirmed a large garden site. Further investigations by John, along with proactive reporting by the harvesting crew Maungawaru Logging Crew 902 each time they saw something unusual led to identification of further pa, terracing, hangi sites and in some locations stone tools used by the past occupants.

In total 16 previously unrecorded sites were identified during harvest. The high use of this area

is likely to be due to the easy topography, proximity to the river and good soils making it an ideal location for a kainga.

Identification of sites during harvest creates additional challenges with the need to amend harvest plans to avoid damage to sites as far as practical. Thanks to the proactive reporting by staff from Wilson Bros and Maungawaru Logging along with good communication between all involved, including representatives of the landowners, Houpoto Te Pua Trust, harvesting was completed with minimal damage to the sites. The sites will now be set aside from replanting to ensure their long term protection.

Historic Sites add to Harvesting Challenges in Eastern BOP

Road construction underway in the Tauwhare Flats, Houpoto Forest

Contact Us

Hancock Forest Management (NZ) Ltd P O Box 13404 Unit 5, 120 Hamilton Street Tauranga 3141

Whangarei Office phone: (09) 470 1300 Tokoroa Office phone: (07) 885 0350 Rotorua Office phone: (07) 350 0080 Tauranga Office phone: (07) 541 7900

Tauwhare Flats showing the concentration of newly discovered historic sites (in red)

Stone adze found during harvesting