Current Projects

NORTHLAND TOTARA WORKING GROUP (NTWG)

Totara (Podocarpus totara) is a prominent feature of rural landscapes in many regions throughout New Zealand. The Northland Totara Working Group (NTWG) was established in September 2005 to support and promote research and technology transfer regarding sustainable management of totara as a specialty timber from naturally-regenerating stands. The Group has stimulated considerable interest by landowners in potential options for managing totara as a sustainable timber resource that complements existing pastoral farming land use.

Tāne's Tree Trust (TTT) was involved in the establishment of the Northland Totara Working Group and is as collaborator and co-funder of many of the projects. The group is coordinated by the NZ Landcare Trust. Current active members include local landowners, Far North District Council, Northland Regional Council, wood millers and processors, landowners, Tāne's Tree Trust, Scion and local representatives from NZ Farm Forestry Association, NZ Forest Owners Association and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. A database of interested people (more than 250 nationally) is maintained.

NTWG outputs:

  • Northland Totara Working Group Newsletters.
  • Moodie, H.; Quinlan, P.; Bergin, D.; Kennedy, C. 2007: Totara – Northland's farm-forests of the future! Introducing the vision, activities, objectives and profile of the Northland Totara Working Group. New Zealand Tree Grower 28 (4): 25-26.
  • Cown, D.; Bergin, D.; Quinlan, P. 2009: Totara – a growing resource. New Zealand Tree Grower 30 (4): 23-24.
  • Quinlan, P. 2010: A role for totara in rural production landscapes. In: Barton, I.; Gadgil, R.; Bergin, D. (Eds.): Managing native trees. Towards a national strategy. Proceedings of the Tāne's Tree Trust 10th anniversary conference and workshops held at The University of Waikato, 18-20 November 2009. Tāne's Tree Trust. 31-35.

Contact for the Northland Totara Working Group:

Completed and current NTWG projects include:

  • Silvicultural trials in naturally-regenerating totara (completed)
  • Landowner guidelines for assessing totara (completed)
  • Review of uses and market opportunities of farm-grown totara (current)
  • Refer to COMPLETED PROJECTS and CURRENT PROJECTS for details on each

REVIEW OF USES AND MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Project summary:

  • This project is currently funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Sustainable Farming Fund to undertake a review of existing uses and market development opportunities for naturally regenerating totara timber. Farm-grown totara is common in many regions throughout New Zealand often regenerating on hill country pastoral land.
  • The project seeks to capture the wealth of knowledge and experience that already exists concerning many of the practical wood-quality and handling issues such as kiln-drying and performance, uses, etc.
  • Conducting a survey of experienced people is seen as an efficient way to collate and share essential information that will help highlight critical information gaps; determine key issues and actions required to create markets; and developing a functioning supply-chain from landowners to consumers as part of a sustainable industry based on farm-grown totara.
  • The survey is currently being undertaken by Paul Quinlan of Podocarpus Ltd and includes both face-to-face and phone/email interviews focusing mainly on Northland and Auckland areas. It targets five sector groups:
    • Landowners/portable saw-millers that used or have milled farm-grown totara
    • Commercial timber merchants, processors and furniture makers who use regenerating totara
    • Commercial timber merchants, wood processors and furniture manufacturers who do not use it (why?)
    • Specifiers (architects, designers, landscape architects, etc) who design and specify timber products
    • Scientists, wood technologists, researchers at Crown Research Institutes, universities, polytechnics

Contact for this project:

A NEW INDIGENOUS TREE BULLETIN - THE BEECHES

Project summary:

  • Production of the 6th bulletin in the Scion Indigenous Tree Bulletin series entitled The beeches – ecology, establishment, growth and management is underway. It will cover all the beech species and is in response to requests from landowners and foresters in southern areas of New Zealand where beech species have fast growth rates and respond to management. Emphasis will be placed on timber production.
  • The publication will cover management of natural and regenerating stands of beech as well as planted stands. Up-to-date information will be provided including the latest information gained during site visits and of focus group meetings and workshops.
  • This is a collaborative project undertaken by Landcare Research and Scion with funding from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Sustainable Farming Fund, and the Diverse Species Programme at Scion via Futura Forests Research. In-kind support has been received from the NZ Institute of Forestry and the NZ Farm Forestry Association.

Progress to date:

  • The first draft of the bulletin has been completed and photographs are being compiled. Fieldwork assessing planted stands for growth performance and management information, most of which are located in the southern North Island and in the South Island, has been completed.
  • The bulletin will be published mid-2011.

Contacts for this project:

TTT INDIGENOUS FORESTRY BIBLIOGRAPHY

Project summary:

  • An ongoing project funded by the Tāne's Tree Trust (TTT) is the development and maintenance of a reference list of publications, reports and articles relevant to the planting and management of indigenous forest.
  • This list will eventually be available on the TTT website and will allow searching by keyword.

Progress to date:

  • Relevant references are currently being compiled.
  • The database is expected to be available for use via the TTT website by mid-2011.

Contact for this project:

TTT NATIONAL SURVEY OF INDIGENOUS PLANTATIONS FOR CARBON ACCOUNTING

Background:

  • Preliminary calculations indicate that at least 80 million seedlings of indigenous timber trees have been planted throughout New Zealand over the past 150 years to meet a wide range of purposes. Planting programmes involving hundreds of thousands of seedlings of many indigenous species were initiated by the Lands Department before 1900 and continued with the NZ Forest Service into the 1980s.
  • Most local authorities have planted indigenous trees in parks and gardens during the past century, and many of these well-maintained stands exist today. Interest in the planting of indigenous timber species by private individuals and public organisations has also intensified over the last couple of decades.
  • Other than a survey by the Forest Research Institute in the mid-1980s, there has been no nationwide comprehensive assessment of indigenous plantations. Available growth data on many planted tree species is therefore limited and is inadequate for estimation of carbon sequestration.

Project summary:

  • Tāne's Tree Trust (TTT) is undertaking a nationwide survey of significant plantings of native trees and shrubs. The history and growth performance of these stands will be used to increase the reliability of growth models and carbon sequestration estimates of key native tree and shrub species.
  • The project is funded for three years by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Sustainable Farming Fund and TTT with support from Scion's Diverse Species Programme funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology through Future Forests Research.
  • More than 120 landowners and managing agencies have responded to a questionnaire requesting information about planted stands of indigenous trees and shrubs.
  • Most stands have been inspected and Permanent Sample Plots (PSPs) or growth plots established. Stand management information and growth data including stem density, stem diameter, tree height and tree form is being collated.

Progress to date:

  • To date, over 90 plots have been established in 40 plantations – over 5000 trees measured ranging in age from 3-90 years. Key species assessed include:
    • indigenous conifer trees – kauri, totara, rimu, kahikatea, tanekaha, matai, miro
    • indigenous hardwood trees – black/mountain beech, red beech, silver beech, puriri, rewarewa, kohekohe, taraire, lacebark, maire, kanuka, kowhai
    • indigenous shrub hardwoods and monocots – karamu, kohuhu, ti kouka, manuka, tarata, karo, ngaio, fivefinger, akeake, ribbonwood
  • Increment cores, and where possible cross-sectional discs, have been sampled from selected planted stands of shrub hardwood species for wood density determination to provide estimates of carbon.
  • Growth and stand management information is being added to the TTT Indigenous Plantation Database as it is collected and will be used to develop summary tables for the major planted species which will be available on the TTT Website.
  • Expected completion of the indigenous plantation survey is mid-2011.

Outputs:

  • Up to four technical articles are planned for the TTT Handbook including:
    • Scope and extent of the TTT survey of planted indigenous stands
    • Results from the national survey on growth and management of planted indigenous trees and shrubs
    • Implications for carbon accounting for planted indigenous stands
    • Ongoing monitoring of planted stands.

Contacts for this project:

TĀNE'S TREE TRUST TECHNICAL HANDBOOK

Background:

  • In consultation with landowners, local community groups and agency representatives attending Tāne's Tree Trust (TTT) workshops at Hikurangi (Northland) and Kaukapakapa (north of Auckland), it was agreed that the Trust should collate historical and recent information in the form of a handbook that is easy to update.
  • The handbook is intended to be a comprehensive reference guide that can be updated regularly in order to disseminate information about best-practice methods for the establishment and management of indigenous plantations. It will be used at TTT workshops, seminars and field days, and as resource material for proposed tertiary courses on indigenous plantation forestry.
  • The project is managed by Tāne's Tree Trust with funding and support from FITEC (Forest Industry Training and Education Council), the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Sustainable Farming Fund and Tāne's Tree Trust. Complementary funding and in-kind time was also provided by Scion via the Future Forests Research's Diverse Species Theme.

Progress to date:

  • Over the last 3 years TTT has been working on the production of the Technical Handbook entitled Planting and Managing Native Trees. Information covered includes the ecological principles of restoration and planting New Zealand indigenous trees and shrubs as well as providing practical guidelines for planting and managing natives.
  • The Handbook comprises of a high-quality ring binder with dividers. Each colour-coded and numbered section contains stand-alone technical articles written in a user-friendly style and fully illustrated in colour. The articles present referenced material and are peer-reviewed. New sections and articles will be distributed as they become available.
  • Publication of the first phase will be in early 2011. Further sections are already being planned and it is intended that the Handbook be continually updated over time as new and additional information becomes available.
  • Copies of the Handbook can be ordered via the Tāne's Tree Trust website or from Tāne's Tree Trust, PO Box 1169, Pukekohe.

Technical Handbook contents (first phase)

1. Introduction
1.1 Why do we need a Handbook?
1.2 How to use this Handbook
1.3 Introducing Tāne's Tree Trust
2. Objectives for establishing natives
2.1 Objectives and strategies for planting
2.2 Options for establishing native trees
3. Cultural and historical perspective on planting native trees
3.1 Nga Taonga o te Wao Nui a Tane – a cultural perspective
3.2 Native forests – an historical perspective
4. Requirements for establishing native trees
4.1 Physiological factors – trees and environment
4.2 Lessons from nature – using ecology to help grow native trees
5. Seed and propagation of natives
5.1 Seeding of native trees and shrubs
5.2 Eco-sourcing natives
5.3 Choice of nursery stock
6. Site selection
6.1 Key factors in site selection
6.2 Sites for planting native trees
7. Site preparation
7.1 Planting – getting started
7.2 Livestock and pest management
7.3 Preparing grass sites for planting – herbicides
7.4 Preparing gorse, broom, blackberry sites for planting natives
8. Planting and maintenance of natives
8.1 Planting techniques for natives
8.2 Planting patterns and density
8.3 Maintenance – weed control
9. Planting and managing natives in riparian areas
9.1 Riparian margins – an introduction
9.2 Riparian planting for sediment, nutrient and pathogen management
9.3 Riparian planting for aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity
9.4 Riparian planting for native timber and multiple purposes
9.5 What is it with willows? What is the way to tame them?

Contacts for this project:

LAKE TAUPO PROJECTION TRUST PROJECT IMAGE GALLERY

LAKE TAUPO PROTECTION TRUST TRIALS

Background:

  • A significant proportion of productive land within the Lake Taupo catchment is likely to be retired from pasture and planted in forestry. This will assist the realisation of the goal of the Lake Taupo Protection Trust (LTPT) to reduce the amount of nitrogen leaching into the lake by 20% over the next 15 years.
  • Options for landowners include exotic forestry as well as native forestry conservation or production. Impediments to the establishment of indigenous forest include slow growth of native tree species, high cost of seedlings, uneven plant quality, and high cost of weed control.
  • This project, managed by Tāne's Tree Trust (TTT), aims to provide practical guidelines for establishing a range of indigenous tree and shrub species on land retired from pastoral grazing or exotic production forestry within the Lake Taupo catchment. A specific objective is to reduce the cost of raising and establishing indigenous plants for large scale planting programmes.

Project summary:

  • The project involves several initiatives including:
    • Evaluating the performance and economics of native conifer and hardwood tree and shrub species raised in PB planter bags and root trainers, and as open-ground transplants.
    • Assessing survival and growth of natives raised in containers and open ground seedlings in field-based planting trials on a steep pastoral hill country in the Taupo catchment.
    • Comparing performance of conifers on a range of sites within and adjacent to a nurse crop of natural kanuka.
    • Monitoring totara planted on several site types with and without shelter of wilding pines in a riparian zone recently clear-felled of radiata pine.
    • Evaluating growth of existing planted indigenous areas in selected parts of the Taupo catchment.
    • Determining the potential of natural regeneration of indigenous woody species and exotic weeds on reverting marginal sites including wilding pines.
  • This work is building on earlier work by the Forest Research Institute Nursery and on field trials established more recently in North Auckland and managed by the Mahurangi Action Group.
  • The project is funded by the Lake Taupo Protection Trust and TTT in collaboration with Scion, Future Forests Research, Taupo Native Plant Nursery and Environment Waikato.

Progress to date:

  • First year of the project (2009) involved planting over 2000 nursery-raised indigenous shrub hardwood seedlings on a retired marginal hill country farm site at Waihaha, western Taupo. First year assessment of performance of this trial comparing seedlings raised as open ground transplants and in PB3 containers has been completed.
  • Second year of the project (2010) involved planting up to 3000 indigenous trees and shrubs on steep retired pastoral hill country evaluating nursery stock types as above but also including root trainers. Groups of podocarps were also planted within a kanuka stand and totara planted on a wilding pine site.
  • A minimum of eight sites already established in indigenous trees and shrubs from 4-15 years ago have been inspected with assessment plots established in selected stands.

Outputs:

  • Year 1 and Year 2 progress reports
  • Smith, P. 2010: Reducing costs associated with establishment of native plants in the Lake Taupo catchment. In: Barton, I.; Gadgil, R.; Bergin, D. (Eds.): Managing native trees. Towards a national strategy. Proceedings of the Tāne's Tree Trust 10th anniversary conference and workshops held at The University of Waikato, 18-20 November 2009. Tāne's Tree Trust. 52-55.

Contacts for this project:

TTT INDIGENOUS PLANTATION DATABASE PROJECT

Background

  • For well over a century, millions of indigenous trees have been planted throughout New Zealand. This has been done to provide a long-term timber resource as well as to provide a range of non-timber benefits, e.g. restoration of biodiversity, improvement of water quality, provision of shelter, and enhancement of aesthetic values.
  • Indigenous trees have been established in small plantations containing one or more species through to mixed species assemblages in urban parks, on farms, and along riparian zones and highways for over a century. Interest in planting indigenous trees and shrubs has increased substantially in recent decades.
  • With only a handful of exceptions, these plantings have not been easy to identify or locate, and their growth performance is unknown. Information representing tens of millions of dollars worth of planting effort is therefore effectively lost or inaccessible to those interested in planting and managing indigenous trees.
  • A nationwide register of significant plantings of indigenous trees, both historical and recently established, was therefore considered essential to provide current and future generations with information on site characteristics, species choice, growth performance and management methods.

Project summary

  • Tāne's Tree Trust (TTT) is setting up a database system for consistent recording of the location and stand history details for indigenous tree plantations nationwide. This involves standardising and centralising methods for recording establishment and management information and growth performance data for significant stands of planted indigenous trees, and in some instances, shrub species.
  • This project centres around the collection of historical descriptions and growth data from old plantings and records from recently-planted stands. Systematic inclusion of the many combinations of species and site throughout the country will be achieved by:
    • Setting up a database system for consistent recording of the location and stand history of native tree plantations;
    • Standardising and centralising methods for recording establishment practice, management information and growth performance data in native tree plantations; and
    • Providing an interactive web-based system that enables landowners to compare and contribute regional and nationwide information about native plantations.
  • The project aims to improve knowledge and to increase the availability of robust data from indigenous plantations. The database will include information about species choice, suitability of species for particular sites, site preparation, establishment practice, performance monitoring, stand maintenance, stand management, and provision of data for growth and carbon-accounting models.
  • It complements the Permanent Sample Plot System at Scion and also the TTT Plantation Survey project.
  • The project has been partly funded by Forest Industries Development Agenda (FIDA) to set up the database system and ongoing funding from TTT is adding new stand and growth data as this is collated. The project has the support of Scion's Diverse Species Programme funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology through Future Forests Research.
  • Most of the set-up work has been completed. Over 100 indigenous stands located from Southland to Northland, from newly planted to 70-years-old, have been entered onto the system.
  • A component of the project is the ongoing development of an interactive web-based database system to enable landowners to compare and contribute information on native plantations regionally and nationwide.

Outputs:

  • Check out the development of the Tāne's Tree Trust Indigenous Plantation database on the TTT website.

Contact for this project:

 

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