Today’s news of a Ministerial inquiry into forestry slash and land use in Te Tarāwhiti/Gisborne and Wairoa is welcome, but the forestry sector should have to compensate councils, landowners and communities for the enormous damage caused by land and logging management which has generated so much slash and sediment.

Proposed new legislation to reduce the risk that timber imported into Aotearoa New Zealand is sourced from illegal logging is a positive first step but it should go further, the Green Party says.

The Green Party will support a viable, innovative and stable forestry industry and ensure plantation forests are managed and harvested in alignment with biodiversity, carbon, pest eradication and cultural values and goals, while honouring all Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations. We will protect, maintain and increase native forests, and contribute to the sustainable management of the world’s forests. Vision Aotearoa New Zealand has large areas of land in healthy, productive, sustainably managed forests, which contain a diversity of species, both...