NTWG Projects

The NTWG has completed many projects over the last two decades and has several projects currently underway aimed at addressing many of these objectives.

Completed projects

A number of major projects managed and promoted by NTWG have been undertaken and completed with links to further information and outputs available on TTT website. These projects include:

• Totara Industry Pilot (TIP) Project. Exploring the business case for the regional totara industry, visit the TIP website and see the full summary report here (PDF, 5.52 MB).
• Farm-totara and the New Zealand Building Code see the latest report here. (PDF, 2.73 MB)
• An example of integrating sustainable management of regenerating tōtara within a dairy-farm for multiple environmental benefits: The Northland Tōtara and Riparian Management Project. See Project page here for full details.
• An inventory of the resource focusing on the Whangaroa catchment of the Far North including developing methods for estimating the area of regenerating totara and determining tree quality and size (Kennedy 2007). See full article here.
• Establishment and remeasurement of Permanent Sample Plots and extensive silvicultural trials in three regions throughout Northland (Bergin and Kimberley 2008; 2010; Quinlan et al. 2013).
• An investigation of factors influencing natural regeneration of totara on grazed hill country in Northland (Bergin and Kimberley 2003).
• Developing methods for quantifying the resource of totara at a farm level (Bergin 2009).
• Preliminary evaluation of timber properties (Cown et al. 2009; McKinley 2008).
• A survey on current timber uses, wood quality, value and market potential including perceptions of users and processors of wood from farm grown totara (Quinlan 2011). See report here.
• Herbicide Metsulfuron-methyl spray trial over tōtara seedlings (Quinlan 2021). See the full report here.

For further details on each of these projects please refer to the Projects section of this website and the NTWG Publications & Resources here.

Outputs include peer-reviewed scientific papers, technical reports, articles, several conference papers, NTWG newsletters, workshops and community field days.

Current projects

The NTWG in collaboration with partners have a number of current areas of investigation. These include:

• Developing a practical guide to managing tōtara on private land. See Project section for overview and latest updates.
• Remeasuring and extending the Northland farm-tōtara silvicultural trials to a wider range of forest types. See Project section for overview and latest updates.
• Trialing templates for cost-effective Sustainable Management Plans and Permits under the Forest Act apply to the farm-grown totara resource.
• Regulatory and market disincentives and impediments.
• Harvesting and provision of logs for milling and processors for wood quality testing and utilisation studies.
• Utilisation studies of farm-totara including market research.
• Supporting next phase of the Tōtara Industry Pilot project. Evaluating the feasibility of a sustainable supply of farm-totara from resource to consumer.

For further details on each of these projects please refer to the Projects section of this website or contact Paul Quinlan via email Enable JavaScript to view protected content..