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On this page:
- What we do
- Supporting the Government's forestry goals
- Our funding programmes
- Our regulations and schemes
What we do
Our goal is to unlock the full potential of our forests to support our climate change response. We envision a future where our forests will provide ecosystem services, carbon capture, and produce high-value timber products, novel bio-products, and bioenergy as part of a low emissions bioeconomy.
Our strategic priorities are to:
- plant trees for a healthy environment
- strengthen our forestry system
- grow New Zealand’s bioeconomy.
To do this we are:
- building our planning and advisory service
- supporting more tree planting
- investing in forestry joint ventures
- transforming the Emissions Trading Scheme
- growing the forestry and wood-processing workforce
- investing in the future of the forestry sector.
Supporting the Government's forestry goals
In April 2021 Forestry Minister Stuart Nash launched a new vision for forestry, reflected in the Future of Forestry booklet.
Future of Forestry [PDF, 6.6 MB]
Our funding programmes
Matariki Tu Rākau
Your community can apply for funding to plant trees as living memorials to honour New Zealand's heroes.
Hill Country Erosion Fund (HCE)
The HCE Fund is a partnership between Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service, regional councils, and landowners. Funding is aimed at:
- planning for and treatment of erosion-prone land where the main treatment is tree planting, including appropriate species for natural vegetative cover
- implementing sustainable land management practices
- projects in coastal, alpine, or hill country areas (previously only targeted at hill country regions).
The HCE Fund is open to all regional councils and unitary (territorial) authorities.
Hill Country Erosion Programme
Our regulations and schemes
Part 3A Forest Act 1949
Part 3A of the Forests Act applies to indigenous (native) forests on private land. It covers the harvesting, milling, and exporting of indigenous timber from existing or regenerating indigenous forest.
Forests Act 1949 – NZ Legislation
Emissions Trading Scheme
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is New Zealand’s domestic carbon market.
We manage forestry in the ETS, along with the Ministry for the Environment and the Environmental Protection Authority under the Climate Change Response Act 2002.
National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry
The National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry (NES-PF) are regulations made under the Resource Management Act (RMA). The regulations provide a set of nationally consistent rules for plantation forestry that cover 8 forestry activities, from land preparation through to harvesting.
We developed the NES-PF in partnership with the Ministry for the Environment and will continue to review it with the Ministry for the Environment and the Department of Conservation, to ensure we have regulations that provide the best environmental outcomes.
National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry
Permanent Forest Sink Initiative
The Permanent Forest Sink Initiative (PFSI) was one of the government's sustainable forestry programmes. It enabled landowners to receive carbon units through the creation of permanent forests.
In December 2018, the Government announced it would discontinue the PFSI, and introduce a new permanent post-1989 forest activity into the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to replace it.
Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service can help move participants across to the ETS.
