The heart will be ripped out of rural communities if forestry development is allowed to "unabatedly slice through prime farmland in rural New Zealand".
That is the fear of Heriot sheep and beef farmer Allan Richardson who has called on the government to move quickly to prevent the permanent loss of food-producing areas.
Acknowledging West Otago’s long forestry history, he said that was previously in areas where sheep and beef cattle could not easily graze, not productive sheep and beef farms.
The district had been targeted by forestry companies and the only ones that won out of wholesale planting of farms in trees were those that invested in the land.
No other industry or sector in New Zealand operated like forestry, where companies could "buy land, plant it out and walk away", Mr Richardson said.
Those that thought forestry would solve climate change were "somewhat deluded because it is only an offset and allows big polluters to keep going and feel good about it".
Blanket planting of trees saw families that depended on farming for their livelihoods leave communities.
"The multiplier effect gets destroyed because there’s nothing to multiply," Mr Richardson said.
Last year, he and his wife Sonia planted a 10ha gorsy gully on their property in trees and they would continue to plant areas that were unproductive on the farm.
He had no issue with forestry companies doing the same.
But taking food production out of areas which over the years had produced a lot of overseas receipts for the country "beggars belief".
"I don’t want to see this beautiful part of the country in trees," he said.
Pine trees — a monoculture which destroyed the land, sucked the water out of creeks and became a haven for pests — were not the solution.
Instead, the solution was being walked on — driving carbon into the soil through photosynthesis, he said.
"If we give farmers the right incentives, they will look after their soil and pump carbon down into the soil and store it there," he said.
That was a win-win; recognise farmers for the stable soil carbon they had in their soils "and we will solve any climate issues that trees are supposed to be solving and still be able to produce food ... our communities will still be safe and strong and vibrant".
Farming among the rolling hills of West Otago was "as good as it gets" for Mr and Mrs Richardson, who began using organic methods in 1998, gaining AsureQuality organic certification in 2001.
Avalon Genetics comprises the 800ha home property Avalon, and then the 500ha Bonnieview where they have equity partners.
A former Nuffield scholar, Mr Richardson could see the potential of organics during his six-month study tour and believed they would be better off long-term supplying customers at the top end of the market.
At the time, he recalled how they were perceived to be "guaranteed either mad or going mad".
In the Lawrence area, he said about 11 farms had been converted to forestry and there was no back-stop for the dairy industry in that district.
He did not want to see the same thing happen in Heriot, with downstream loss of teachers, contractors and services.
Forestry companies also had to be held responsible for weeds and pests which resulted from their operations and while there was no tuberculosis in the area, that did not need to be speeded up.
There was also no point growing crops to be destroyed by wild deer.
There was also no liability for the companies over wilding pines — the reality was that buffer zones and nature "doesn’t work".
Any company investing in wholesale farm planting in forestry must be held accountable for costs which, at this stage, were taken up by neighbours, he said.
The government had made it easy for people to invest.
"They need to stand up and be the policeman in this situation and say, the industry that does this has to pay for the cleanup costs and ongoing costs".
IFS Growth, which has forestry in West Otago, took animal pest control of its forestry very serious and believed its standard of care was exemplary, its managing director Dan Minehan said.
Data for the 12 months to May 2024 of recorded pest control from its southern regional office showed a total of 7417 animals destroyed, including goats, deer, hares, pigs, rabbits and possums.
"Pest management is an issue for all landowners in this community and we all have a role to play," he said.
IFS Growth has also teamed up with local individuals to create Deer to Care, an initiative that donates processed venison recovered from its Southland and Otago plantations to partners including Presbyterian Support, Women’s Refuge, The Salvation Army, Grey Power, Granny for Good and Good Bitches Baking.
In April, a group of West Otago farmers expressed concern about a large-scale forestry development in the heart of the district’s hill country.
They were concerned, in particular, about potential wilding pine spread from the conversion by forestry company Ernslaw One of 2500ha property Warthill.
They were outraged a wilding tree risk assessment was completed by one of the forestry company’s employees; something Ernslaw One said was standard industry practice.
A wilding tree risk assessment with a score of 12 or more meant it was not a permitted activity and resource consent had to be obtained. The highest score within the block was 11.
Of the area to be planted, about 1100ha was Douglas fir, which had high wilding potential, the farmers said.
Once the trees started seeding, the farmers feared the surrounding run blocks would become covered with wildings.
The Otago Regional Council later requested additional information from Ernslaw One and got an independent assessment of the wilding risk calculator score.
When contacted this week, the council’s acting manager compliance Chris McSweeney said an updated planting plan had been supplied to the council, based on that additional information and the calculator assessment.
There had been a reduction to the planned planting area of Douglas fir. Pinus attenuata is being planted instead.
The calculations for the various blocks in the site ranged from 0 to 11.6.
Staff would continue to monitor the forestry activity in line with its forestry monitoring programme and respond to any matters relating to the site, he said.
