Environmental groups praise court ruling against Chinese forestry company

The court ruled that China National Forestry Group New Zealand must stop discharging woody debris and sediment. File photo.
photo: 123 RF

Tairāwhiti environmental groups have applauded the Environment Court’s recent decision against a Chinese-owned forestry company as a significant event.

For years, forest waste — logging material — has been flowing down from logging sites during storms, damaging farmland and destroying roads and bridges.

Last month, Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti and Gisborne District Council launched proceedings in the Auckland Environment Court against China Forestry Group New Zealand and its management company Timber Marketing Services over their operations in the Kanuka Forest in the upper Waimata River catchment.

The court ruling, published Friday, said the company must stop discharging woody debris and sediment. Other requirements relate to clearing and stabilization works, water controls, monitoring and maintenance of clearing collectors, and reporting. A new order covers the degradation of part of the forest.

“Everyone involved in this case agrees that the problems that have occurred in recent years are unacceptable,” the ruling said.

Some of the work will be completed by the end of this year, and the ruling requires that felling catchers and woody debris capture devices must be installed by August 2025.

At the hearing, Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti spokesman Manu Caddie said it showed poor land management did have an impact and it sent a clear signal to all forestry companies that they needed to improve their logging practices.

“This sets a precedent. It shows that the courts take these issues very seriously and hopefully companies that think they can get away with bad behavior will realize that the courts will not be sympathetic to them because they will want them to clean up their mess before they leave the scene.”

Mr Cady said successful prosecutions of forestry companies in the past had unfortunately not always resulted in improved logging practices, but regulators were now doing a good job of monitoring and ensuring compliance, and councils were taking the issue more seriously than in the past.

The court said CFG director Yukia Sun resigned from her role since 2018 before the tribunal hearing began. The other directors are all in China and are named as defendants in the case brought by Gisborne District Council. New director Yihang Liu was appointed in May but is not bound by the order as he is not a party to the proceedings.

Mr Cuddy said plantation forestry had no future in the Tairāwhiti region, given 90 per cent of the land was steep and prone to erosion, but forestry companies needed help to transition to different land uses – particularly permanent native forest.

He said they needed help to do this, and the government could issue biodiversity credits or tweak the ETS so there was more incentive to convert pines to native species.