Biosecurity
- New biosecurity reporting tool launched
From Forest Health News 307, April 2022 Biosecurity New Zealand has released a new web tool for the reporting of suspected exotic pests and diseases. The tool guides users through…
- How biosecure are we? Case studies with unwanted forestry pathogens and pests.
A further look at New Zealand’s import health standards. I. A. Hood, December 2018. Download the report Executive summary The problem In 2016 Scion reviewed national import health standards from…
- FOA Forest Biosecurity review, January 2019
Forest Biosecurity Review - Phase 1 Report - Operational Biosecurity Issues January 2019, Karyn Froud Cypress Biosecurity Review Report 2019 January 2019. A Scion review of the risks associated with a biosecurity…
- Biosecurity Levy Proposal, as it affects Plantation Forest Owners
May 2018. Consultation Document: The New Zealand Forest Owners Association (FOA) and the NZ Farm Forestry Association (FFA) acting on behalf of New Zealand plantation forest owners plans to apply…
- Forest Owners highlight biosecurity risks as good reason to keep forestry under MPI
Forest Owners Association news media statement, 18 December 2017. The Forest Owners Association believes the government appears to have got the balance right in creating a separate Forestry New Zealand,…
- Update on recent biosecurity problems
Peter Berg, New Zealand Tree Grower August 2017.Eucalyptus variegated beetle and myrtle rust On 8 March 2016 a eucalyptus foraging beetle new to New Zealand was collected by SPS Biosecurity…
- Biosecurity: Obtaining social licence to operate case study – gypsy moth eradication programme, British Columbia, Canada
July, 2017. Executive summary The purpose of this report is to present findings from a biosecurity visit to British Columbia, Canada in May 2017 by a delegation consisting of industry,…
- Biosecurity Levy: Consultation
July, 2017. Consultation with the New Zealand Plantation Forest industry has begun on the proposal for a Biosecurity Levy to allow the sector to meet the response costs of a biological…
- Recognising Benefits, Costs and Risks Associated to Urban Trees
From Forest Health News 270, December 2016. Trees in urban landscapes provide a range of economic, social and environmental benefits (ecosystem services), and these are increasingly recognized by cities and municipalities…
- Forest biosecurity surveillance What does GIA mean for the little guys?
Bill Dyck, New Zealand Tree Grower August 2016. Commercial plantation forestry has entered a new era with a Government Industry Agreement on biosecurity incursions. The NZ Forest Owners Association was…
- Forest industry wants to see how government can deliver on Biosecurity 2025 promise
July, 2016. The Forest Owners Association believes the government is aiming in the right direction with its just announced biosecurity ambitions, but wants to see real plans to deliver on…
- Government Industry Agreement for biosecurity readiness and response
NZFFA, New Zealand Tree Grower February 2016.On 5 November last year the forestry industry and the Ministry for Primary Industries signed a Government Industry Agreement which aims to produce an…
- Are we prepared for bio-invaders?
From Forest Health News - Issue 265 - March/April 2016. “Are we prepared for the bio-invaders?” This was the question that was put to industry, government and researchers at the…
- Forestry and Government sign up to share biosecurity readiness and response
November 2015: The Government Industry Agreement (GIA) is a partnership-driven approach to managing biosecurity readiness and response. It provides industry with a seat at the table with the Ministry for…
- Forest owners sign biosecurity agreement with government
November, 2015. The Forest Owners Association says having a biosecurity agreement with the government is a vital part of the forest industry’s defence system. Forest defence bolstered by agreement with…
- Major International events lead to increasing spread of forest pests and diseases
From Forest Health News 261, October 2015. The international trade in plants for planting has long been identified as a major pathway for the introduction of pests and diseases in…
- Forest owners welcome border levy
October, 2015. Forest owners are welcoming the planned introduction of the new clearance levy to help fund border biosecurity. “It is important that those who benefit from travel and tourism…
- Global effort needed to protect New Zealand's trees and forests
From Forest Health News 259, August 2015. Principal Scientist and entomologist, Ecki Brockerhoff co-authored a paper in the prestigious journal “Science” that discusses the need for a strategy to keep…
- Forest biosecurity – New Zealand needs to act locally and globally
August, 2015. A review of the global state of forest biosecurity highlights the need for countries to cooperate more effectively to prevent the spread of dangerous pests and pathogens. Scion…
- Government Industry Agreement Application underway on behalf of the forest-growing industry
July, 2015. In November 2014, the NZ Forest Owners Association (FOA), on behalf of the commercial forest-growing industry, submitted its application to MPI to sign the GIA Deed. Prior to…
- Keeping an eye on the health of your foliage
June, 2015. Scion seeks input from farm foresters around New Zealand to help in the fight against red needle cast and other foliar diseases. Red needle cast has posed a…
- Research at Scion - The changing face of forest monitoring
April, 2015. Preliminary results demonstrate the potential for unmanned aerial vehicles to greatly improve our understanding of the health and productivity of New Zealand forests. The sight of drones flying…
- Biosecurity is very important
Wink Sutton, New Zealand Tree Grower February 2015. During my Canadian secondment from 1992 to 1994, I attended a meeting addressed by the then Chief of the USDA Forest Service who talked…
- Forest biosecurity committee
Bill Dyck, New Zealand Tree Grower November 2014. With over 1,000 pests and pathogens worldwide which can attack radiata pine, and thousands more that can affect other New Zealand plantation…
- Forestry biosecurity surveillance in New Zealand
From SURVEILLANCE 38 (2) 2011. Forest biosecurity surveillance is undertaken in New Zealand primarily to detect new forest pests. Currently this activity is shared between government and industry. The Ministry…
- Global forest biosecurity threats and the risk to New Zealand
From Biosecurity, issue 99, August 2010. Protecting all forest types is of paramount importance, writes New Zealand Forest Owners’ Association Forest Health Administrator Bill Dyck. The economic value of New…
- Keeping track of pests and diseases in small forests
April, 2010. New Zealand's forestry depends on good biosecurity and freedom from the harm new pests and diseases can cause. While large forestry companies have systems in place to regularly…
- Biosecurity and Forestry
July, 2009. The proposed industry co-funding approach to biosecurity, especially for incursion response measures, poses some special problems for many forest growers. While the mainstream radiata pine and Douglas fir…
- Keeping an eye on our plantation forests
From Biosecurity 89, February 2009. To provide an additional line of defence, the forest industry, through the New Zealand Forest Owners' Association (NZFOA), runs a Forest Health Surveillance System (FHS)…
- Biosecurity Surveillance for tourist risk sites
From Biosecurity 89, February 2009. MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) has taken a Department of Conservation (DOC) biosecurity surveillance programme and expanded it significantly to increase the protection of New…
- New Zealand's forest survey activities praised
From Biosecurity issue 81, February 2008. Andrew Liebhold, a United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service research entomologist and Brenda Callan, a Canadian Forest Service research mycologist, say the programme…
- Unwanted pests arrive in comfort
From Biosecurity Magazine - Issue 79, November 2007. Figure 1: Typical couch upholstered, upholstery removed, and timber frame exposed Recent reports by MAF's Investigation and Diagnostic Centre (IDC) have shown…
- Forestry focus for national certificates
From Biosecurity Magazine - Issue 75, 1 May 2007. The Forest Industries Training and Education Council (FITEC) has NZQA-accredited biosecurity qualifications, comprising three national certificates: Surveillance of the health of…
- Blown in the wind or border slippage?
From Biosecurity 69, August 2006. What natural dispersal of exotic species to New Zealand has to do with biosecurity By Craig Phillips, Helen Townsend and Cor Vink AgResearch/Better Border Biosecurity…
- Fragile ecosystems facing threat?
From Biosecurity issue 17, February 2000. At MAF’s SPS seminar, Dr Oliver Sutherland pointed out the potential environmental impacts of international trade. Biodiversity in New Zealand New Zealand was the…
- The SPS agreement and New Zealand's primary industries
From Biosecurity issue 14, September 1999. Malcolm Bailey was recently appointed by the government as a special agriculture trade envoy for New Zealand. Earlier this year, as national president of…
- Perspectives on the SPS agreement
From Biosecurity issue 13, August 1999. At MAF’s seminar on the SPS agreement, Dr Joan Arnoldi of the US Department of Agriculture assessed the SPS agreement from the standpoint of…
Farm Forestry - Headlines
Article archive »
- Update to the Forest Owners Association Road Engineering Manual: Forest Road Design for HPMVs.
Thursday, September 19, 2024
The NZFOA/NZFFA Transport and Logistics committee is pleased to announce the release of a new appendix to the New Zealand Forest Owners Road Engineering Manual, titled Forest Roads for High…
- Emissions Trading Scheme fee review a relief for cost-struck foresters
Thursday, February 29, 2024
The New Zealand Forest Owners Association says the review of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) fees is a relief for foresters facing excessive costs and loss of climate change action. …
- Planting trees on pasture can have a positive impact on soil health
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Rather than damaging soil in New Zealand, planting trees on pasture restores soil to be similar to its original condition. A recent news story highlighting changes in soils from converting…
- Forest plantation soils have benefits too
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
The Forest Owners Association (FOA) says the fact that soils under plantation forests are similar to soils under native trees, does not make them damaged, as a recent Newshub report has claimed.…
- Wilding Conifers - A legacy issue that needs continued, collaborative management
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Forest owners welcome the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s (PCE) acknowledgement that the presence of wilding conifers across New Zealand is largely a legacy issue, but caution against placing costs…
- Stock take of the commercially viable alternatives to Pinus radiata
Tuesday, October 03, 2023
Scion has published a “Stock Take of the Commercially Viable Alternatives to Pinus Radiata” for MPI, which reviews alternative species, their expected growth rates, climatic range, resilience to pests or…
- SNA regulations 'confusing ecological naivety'
Thursday, July 06, 2023
Forest Owners say the just released National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity (NPSIB) is a classic bureaucratic formula of confusing ecological naivety which will not help rare species and likely…
- Primary sector leadership not addressing economics as the real climate change issue
Tuesday, July 04, 2023
The immediate past president of the Farm Forestry Association (NZFFA) says the leaders of the primary sector and government are ineffectively tinkering with lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Graham West says the…
- Forest Owners hail ‘Biosecurity Hero’
Monday, May 22, 2023
The Forest Owners Association and Scion want more people to report suspicious imported wood products which might be infested with introduced wood and forest pests. FOA Biosecurity Manager, Brendan Gould,…
- Ministerial inquiry could have widespread implications for Tairawhiti community
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
The New Zealand Institute of Forestry says the just announced Tairawhiti land use inquiry is recommending measures which will stop the very activities which are vital for the region’s recovery.…
- Tairawhiti land use inquiry not addressing wider issues
Sunday, May 14, 2023
The Forest Owners Association says the Ministerial Inquiry into landuse in Tarawhiti has a core of practical recommendations, but has not addressed some more difficult and fundamental issues. President, Grant…
- Forest Owners say carbon-only forestry should be kept off productive land
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
The Forest Owners Association would like to see production forestry and farming on productive land – rather than this land used for carbon-only forests. It says this should be a…
- Opportunities from Trees Workshops - NZ Wide
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
The NZ Farm Forestry Association (NZFFA) is running 18 extension workshops in May and June with a target audience of landowners, or people with access to land, who are potential tree…
- Forest Owners back more trees for Tairawhiti
Sunday, April 16, 2023
The Forest Owners Association has told the Ministerial Inquiry into land use in Tairāwhiti, that the region’s future has to include more trees for land stability. But it appreciates forest…
- Small scale woodlot owners have their say in Tairawhiti Land use Inquiry
Sunday, April 02, 2023
he outgoing President of the Farm Forestry Association says it has been vital for farm foresters to directly address the Ministerial Inquiry into forestry and other land use in Tairāwhiti.…
- Future forests need to be multifunctional to meet climate change in Tairawhiti
Thursday, March 16, 2023
The Farm Forestry Association says the just convened Ministerial Inquiry, into land-use across Tairāwhiti, needs to look closely at the tree options for shoring up vulnerable farm and former forest land in…
- Hill country farming campaign shows they think climate change is someone else’s problem
Thursday, March 09, 2023
The Forest Owners Association says the latest campaign against forestry, led by Beef+Lamb New Zealand and 50 Shades of Green, is climate change responsibility denial, and is dangerous in the…
- Forest Owners says two months too brief to look into the complex land issues in Tairawhiti.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
The Forest Owners Association says the two month long inquiry into land use in Tairāwhiti doesn’t give enough time or depth to find solutions. The Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins has…
- Forest Owners want genetic technology approved
Thursday, February 16, 2023
The Forest Owners Organisation says New Zealand needs to concentrate on the safety of genetic technology on a case-by-case basis rather than persisting with blanket bans. The FOA wants approval…
- Fieldays Forestry Hub to demonstrate that forestry is a solution
Monday, November 28, 2022
A range of solutions to farmers’ current problems will be on display in the Fieldays Forestry Hub near Hamilton between 30 November and 3 December, says Farm Forestry Association president,…