A Hindon farmer is calling a new pine plantation next door an "ecological disaster" but the company managing the forest says it is a good neighbour and is taking appropriate measures to address concerns.
The 170ha property of beef farmer Cathy Anderson neighbours Wainuku Forest in Hindon, north of Outram.
Wainuku Forest is owned by Ngāi Tahu Forestry and managed by Wenita Forest Products.
Ngāi Tahu bought sheep and beef farms, totalling nearly 2500ha, to plant more than 1500ha of trees.
Ms Anderson’s concerns about the new forestry include it being a breeding ground for pests.
The pests would destroy fences, pasture and crops and increase the risk of bovine tuberculosis spreading, she said.
Other farmers in Hindon shared her concerns about pests, especially wild pigs.
Hindon sheep and beef farmer Boyd Tisdall said the wild pig population was "out of control" since forestry had been established near his farm.
Pigs turned over grass, reducing the amount of grazing available to livestock, he said.
The pasture damage needed to be repaired by farmers.
"If you don’t do anything, weeds grow and sheep get cast."
Pigs destroying pasture was frustrating and tough on the mental health of a farmer.
"You try and keep your farm tidy and productive and there’s hectares of it ploughed up."
None of the forestry neighbouring his farm was owned by Ngāi Tahu, he said.
Wild deer numbers had also "exploded" but controlling them was easier than pigs.
"You can hunt deer and lower the numbers a wee bit, whereas the pigs are so cunning and such prolific breeders, they are a different problem."
Forestry management companies had been willing to pay for half of the cost of pest control.
"They’ve been helping out but the horse has bolted. There should have been more hunting pressure on them than what there has been."
Hindon sheep and beef farmer Paul Joyce said he farmed near Ms Anderson and a new forest was established on the boundary of his farm.
"I have a wild pig problem. I’ve never had before."
Mr Joyce found Wenita good to work with.
Another Hindon sheep and beef farmer, who lives near Wainuku Forest and asked to not be named, said pigs numbers were "horrendous" and the pest had been killing lambs.
The issue had spurred a local farmer to remove sheep from his system and focus only on beef cattle, which could defend themselves against a pig.
"The pigs are rife."
Ms Anderson was more concerned about other issues relating to the establishment of Wainuku Forest.
Wenita began preparing the land for tree planting in 2022.
That preparation included bulldozing a rock bank at the top of a gully.
Falling rubble covered a section of Game Cock Stream, a tributary of Taieri River.
The critically endangered, non-migratory freshwater fish Eldon’s galaxias lives in the stream, she said.
Destruction of the environment was a contradiction to Ngāi Tahu’s "clean, green image", Ms Anderson said.
Wenita also used bulldozers to clear native vegetation to plant pine trees.
As a result, large piles of native vegetation cover historic sites including water races in Game Hen Stream and Game Hen Mine.
An article in the Otago Daily Times in 1892 describes the mine "as rich a gully as was ever opened in Otago, the prospectors getting four pounds weight of gold off the bottom of a small shaft".
The mine was named in the honour of a woman who worked at a local pub, who was nicknamed "The Game Hen", the ODT said.
Ms Anderson’s family history in Hindon dates back to gold mining in the area from 1863.
The pub mentioned in ODT was The Game Cock Hotel, she said.
She was calling for Ngāi Tahu and Wenita to do more to protect waterways and historic sites.
"This shouldn’t be happening."
Forestry regulations need to change, Ms Anderson said.
Before any property was cleared for forestry, a landowner should need to gain a consent.
"The damage occurs at the land preparation stage."
She told Heritage New Zealand of her concerns for the historic mining sites and reported rubble in Game Cock Stream to the Otago Regional Council.
A visit by ORC staff resulted in Wenita being issued an infringement notice, she said.
Wenita had completed remedial work to the stream but more needed to be done, Ms Anderson said.
"The job’s not done. The fish still can’t swim upstream because there are boulders blocking it."
Due to concerns for the waterway, she had fenced a 2ha area of her farm at the head of the stream and planted it out with native vegetation.
Ms Anderson spoke about her environmental concerns at a Dunedin City Council meeting.
A resulting site visit from DCC staff resulted in formal warnings being issued to Ngāi Tahu Forestry and Wenita for bulldozing native vegetation, she said.
She was calling for a consent process so all forestry would require an 100m-wide setback from any boundary, waterway, historic site and native bush.
Setback areas should be planted in native bush and then maintained by the landowner to reduce fire risk.
All forestry should feature compulsory dams and fire breaks to help protect the community during a blaze.
Forestry consents should require a pest control plan, which were then independently monitored.
"Our waterways, our endangered species, our heritage sites and our native bush needs protection but they are blatantly bulldozing them and no-one is accountable. They’re getting away with it.
"You shouldn’t be able to do this."
Wenita Forest Products
Wenita chief executive David Cormack said Wenita had about 400 neighbours around the properties it looked after.
"We work hard to establish good relationships."
Forests did not benefit from having wild animals living in them, he said.
"We would rather they didn’t, so animal pest control is an important forestry operation."
Nearly 2500 pigs were removed from Wenita forests in the 12 months up to June this year.
Other pests to be removed included about 5800 possums, 2000 rats, 1000 hedgehogs, 500 rabbits, 120 goats, 100 deer, 70 stoats and 30 feral cats.
Wenita supported the Predator Free Dunedin Halo project, he said.
Nearly $1 million had been invested by Wenita since 2022 to establish a trapping network in Mt Allan Forest, Maungatua Forest, parts of Berwick Forest and on public land within the Silverstream water supply area.
A professional hunter was contracted by Wenita to remove animal pests in Wainuku Forest, he said.
Wenita was aware of the concerns of Ms Anderson.
"We have taken her concerns seriously."
Wenita had worked with ORC on issues raised around Game Cock Stream, he said.
"After being made aware that rubble had been pushed into the stream by accident. We worked with council to obtain a retrospective resource consent so we could remediate the stream."
The work was completed under the supervision of a freshwater ecologist and signed off by ORC as being fully compliant.
DCC had responded to a complaint about possible district plan breaches for vegetation clearance.
"While the council determined these breaches were likely, no formal compliance actions were pursued, but rather recommendations around further afforestation works were made."
Wenita was aware of its responsibilities regarding historical sites and worked with consultant archaeologists New Zealand Heritage Properties to assess the property prior to planting, to ensure it met its responsibilities.
All of Wenita’s forestry operations complied with the National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry, which covered the environmental impact of commercial forestry, Mr Cormack said.
Ngai Tahu Forestry
Ngāi Tahu Holdings chief executive Todd Moyle said Ngāi Tahu Forestry had expectations for Wenita to prioritise the remedial work of Game Cock Stream to the highest standards in 2023.
"We were supportive of the process Wenita followed and pleased that their work met all compliance requirements. We were especially pleased that galaxias were observed swimming in the area following this remediation."
Ngāi Tahu Forestry had no plans to expand the radiata planting in Wainuku Forest.
"However, there are plans for 40ha of indigenous planting along the upper banks of the Taieri River."
Otago Regional Council
Resource consents were issued to disturb the bed and divert the water of Game Cock Stream for the purpose of remediation works by the consent holder.
The work was completed in full compliance with consent conditions.
ORC continued to monitor the resource consents, he said.
When asked if ORC was considering implementing any of Ms Anderson’s calls for change including all forests to have:
• A 100m-wide setback from shared boundaries, waterways, historic sites and native bush.
• Compulsory fire breaks and dams to store water to fight fires.
• A landowner needing to gain a consent to prepare land for tree planting.
• A pest control plan, which was independently monitored.
Mr Wilson said many of the activities associated with forestry were managed under the National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry.
The standards set national requirements for how forests were planted and managed, and auxiliary activities were to be undertaken.
"There is only a limited ability for regional councils to set stricter rules in regional plans."
The government was consulting on amendments to the standards to further limit the ability for councils to be more stringent than the national standards, Mr Wilson said.
Dunedin City Council
DCC customer and regulatory acting general manager Paul Henderson said DCC issued formal warnings to Ngāi Tahu Forestry and Wenita Forest Products in 2023 in relation to native vegetation clearance in the area.
"No further concerns have been raised since then and we are not aware of any ongoing issues."
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
An Otago-Southland area office spokeswoman said staff were aware of archaeological sites in Wainuku Forest.
The office was comfortable with measures in place to mitigate the impact on archaeological sites.
"We understand that an archaeological assessment had been undertaken by consultant archaeologists and appropriate plans had been made to avoid damaging archaeological sites."
