3 September 2019
Māori and non- Māori value different aspects of plantation forestry, which owners should bear in mind if they want to
maximise their social licence to operate, a new study shows.
In a paper published in in the international journal PLoS ONE, titled “Stakeholder valuation of soil ecosystem services from New Zealand’s planted forests”, the authors say understanding these values should also help in developing an assessment and monitoring tool for soil
health in New Zealand’s planted forests.
Scientists from the Bio-Protection Research Centre and Scion surveyed 145 forest stakeholders from seven groups to find
out what forest soil ecosystem services they valued most.
The seven groups were: forest owners, forest managers, land owners, land managers, wood processors, recreational forest
users, and others with a vested interest in forest soils. Respondents were also asked if they identified as Māori or
represented a Māori group or organisation.
Overall, achieving sustainable production (the soil’s ability to sustain forest growth over multiple plantings) was the
highest-ranked ecosystem service, followed by ecosystem resilience, clean water, and maximising forest production.
All survey participants said maintaing sustainable production was most important. But Māori placed greater importance on
forest ecosystem resilience, provenance and kaitiakitanga, water quality, and harvesting food and medicines from the
forest.
“It is important that cultural views are understood and integrated into future soil health testing schemes to reflect
the needs of all stakeholders,” the authors say.
“In addition to providing ecosystem services for the country as a whole, planted forests in New Zealand also have a
strong cultural value for Māori,” the authors write. “By formally accepting and integrating indigenous knowledge and
values into soil health monitoring, we will be better positioned to inform land use decisions that affect indigenous
and/or local communities.”
“Forests make up approximately 10% of the total asset base supporting the Māori economy, and there are projections that
Māori may eventually own or control greater than 40% of New Zealand’s planted forests,” the authors say. “Therefore this
group needs to be well represented in decision-making that affects the forestry industry.”
About the Bio-Protection Research Centre
The Bio-Protection Research Centre is a Centre of Research Excellence funded by the New Zealand Government. It was
established in 2003 to drive innovation in sustainable approaches to pest, pathogen and weed control. The Centre has
seven partner institutes: AgResearch, Lincoln University, Massey University, Plant & Food Research, Scion, University of Canterbury, and University of Otago, with members throughout New Zealand.
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