Fears pine chosen for replant may spread

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Publication title: Central Otago News

The Teviot Valley Community Board has voted to replant the Grovers Hill site, which was damaged by a severe weather event last year, with 11ha of Pinus attenuata and 1ha of mixed natives

A Central Otago District Council report presented to the board at its November 24 meeting recommended that option, stating ‘‘Pinus attenuata does not spread like Pinus radiata’’.

A storm last year damaged the 12ha plantation so severely that all trees had to be harvested.

Harvest took place early this year, and some residual trees were removed in October.

The forestry block was planted in 1984.

It was registered by the council as a pre-1990 forest under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme.

As a component of the registration, the council received 60 carbon credits per hectare for its forest assets, which it retained in its carbon holding account.

To ensure it does not face any carbon credit penalties, replanting must be undertaken within four years of harvest.

The recommendation from the council’s forestry adviser for the best replanting...