The Environmental Defence Society has called the issue a “disaster”.
Chief executive Gary Taylor said the consequences of inadequate controls over exotic plantation forestry operations had been seen again with massive inundation of private property by slash and debris from upstream forestry land.
“Entire houses at Tolaga Bay have been smashed to smithereens, rivers and streams wholly blocked with debris causing extensive flooding of property, and bridges and beaches covered with massive quantities of slash. This is completely unacceptable. It is a repeating occurrence and must have legal consequences.
“The wider context includes several recent prosecutions of forestry companies for breaching even the weak regulatory regime that currently applies. The courts have slammed operators not only for their breaches but also their cavalier attitudes.”
On Tuesday, when ex-tropical Cyclone Hale was at its peak, the river level rose above 10m, bursting its bank and spilling on to an elderly couple’s rural property in Tolaga Bay which now lies in ruins after their front paddock was inundated by storm debris and silt.
Linda Gough had told The New Zealand Herald she was stuck in her house and had received no offers of help from either the forestry workers or the local council.
Taylor said the Government was currently reviewing the National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry, but the limited terms of reference meant it would only result in tinkering with the rules applying to plantation forestry.
“Agencies seem in thrall to the sector which is dominated by offshore interests which are powerful and influential. Industry representatives, with clear conflicts of interest, dominate the Government review of the Forestry Industry Transformation Plan.
“It is time for a full-blown, independent Commission of Inquiry to take a fresh look at the sector, the rules that govern it, whether clear-felling with its adverse consequences should continue, and where liability should lie for any and all offsite damage such has occurred at Tolaga Bay.”
He said it was unjust that private landowners and councils should bear those costs.
“A formal inquiry is urgently needed because these extreme weather events will become more frequent with climate change. A Commission of Inquiry with all its powers, including those to subpoena witnesses, is required to undertake a proper investigation into the forestry sector. A reset in this area is well overdue.”
Hera Ngata-Gibson was born and raised in Anaura Bay, a town between Tolaga Bay and Tokomaru Bay.
She has lived in the region all her life. But in the past decade, Ngata-Gibson said something had changed.
“I have watched the beaches go from plenty of sand to nothing. It used to be a place where you could sit with your whānau, eat kina off the sea, and enjoy.
“Now, you can’t even go sit there it is so unsafe, it is covered in storm debris, slash, the river’s all eroded, it’s silt.
“The seafood has changed too. Kina doesn’t taste as it did then, it has become a bit sour.”
Ngata-Gibson said the change was not just in the environment, it was in the people too as a result.
“This is affecting our people looking at our surroundings get damaged.
“Every time a storm event occurs you can see the livelihoods being impacted.
“This latest event has damaged at least half a dozen houses directly by forestry slash (debris) in our town.
“The volume of water coming out of the catchment has increased each time.
“It is flooding our rivers. This is impacting a lot of us.”
Ngata-Gibson said she understood there were economic benefits from the forestry industry, but it was time to also look at the ecological harm the industry practices had caused.
“It has taken a huge emotional and psychological effect on locals.
“These battles with regulators, the forestry industry and decision-makers. It weighs you down. It is heartbreaking.”
New Zealand Institute of Forestry Council president James Treadwell said it was early days to be calling for an inquiry.
“I am not against an independent inquiry but I am against an inquiry which just looks at the forestry industry and how we need to improve. The inquiry needs to look at the broader picture- the history of the site, flood plains and effects of climate change. Why are there houses on flood plains?
“It’s highly erodable soil which has been there since the time there were farms. The government planted the trees there and now we have climate change.”
Treadwell said an inquiry could be useful depending on what the terms of references were.
And when asked about who should be financially liable for the damage in Tolaga Bay, Treadwell said, it was unfair to put all the blame on forest owners.
“The government put those trees there and they need to get involved and pay.”
