Forestry

Our Project partner, Top of the South Wood Council, has embarked on five forestry innovation projects. More information will be added as these projects progress into 2025.

Underway

• A sediment loading study to establish a clear understanding of the current sediment levels in streams within specific forests in Te Hoiere. This will serve as a critical baseline for future monitoring and management efforts and inform similar studies on other land uses in the area.
• A post-harvest riparian native planting project to establish and test a number of current options in post-harvest riparian management in Te Hoiere with the intention of identifying either the most successful – in terms of biodiversity and stream health – or the factors that contribute to the most successful restorative outcomes. Read more here.
• A land transition study to identify owners who may want to transition areas within their property to another land use; understand where transitioning land may lead to better environmental and economic outcomes; and create an industry-led roadmap for landowners to effectively transition to alternative land uses, including funding and resources available.
• A two-year research project aimed at investigating the exclusion of introduced ungulates – deer, pigs and goats - from forests in Te Hoiere and the potential restorative impacts this could have on indigenous flora and fauna, aquatic health and carbon sequestration.

Complete

Since late 2024, an access toolkit for researchers and monitoring teams has been available to download. It aims to help researchers better engage with forestry owners and managers throughout the catchment, ensuring they are well-prepared when considering research within commercial forests. The document addresses common industry requirements to access forestry properties, such as health and safety, insurance and fire or natural hazard restrictions. While the document doesn’t grant permission to enter private property, it streamlines and guides the conversation between researchers and forest owners/managers when requesting access.

Private forest land, preparation for access request checklist - Download here.

As well as the access toolkit, a Te Hoiere Forest Database has also been compiled. If you wish to determine the location of certain forests within the Te Hoiere catchment for research purposes, please contact eo@totswoodcouncil.org.nz.