The New Zealand Planted Forests Portal, www.nzplantedforests.org, was launched at the National Fieldays by Associate Minister for Primary Industries Jo Goodhew.

Funded by the Ministry for Business Innovation & Employment (MBIE) and forest owners, the portal was designed by Scion to be a one-stop information source about the environmental and social performance of plantation forestry in New Zealand.

This information has until now been filed in many – often hard-to-access – locations. In the portal it is structured around an internationally recognised set of indicators of sustainable forestry management. These include biodiversity, productivity, health and vitality, soil and water, carbon and climate, and legal and socio-economic criteria.

The new website provides the information that addresses these needs, particularly for policy makers and regional council regulators.

Forest Owners Association (FOA) environmental chair Peter Weir said the portal complements the NZ Wood promotional website www.nzwood.co.nz and for those involved in forest harvesting www.safetree.co.nz
View the New Zealand Planted Forests Portal website