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December 2018 NORTHERN FARMING LIFESTYLES
FORESTRY FOCUS ADVERTORIAL
Sustainable thinking protects environment Northland Forest Managers (NFM) is one of Northland’s most established forest management companies. They have offices in Kerikeri and Dargaville and have been servicing growers from just south of Whangarei right up to Kaitaia for over 20 years. One of the truly unique things about this company is the spectrum of services they offer. In addition to harvesting, they provide marketing, forest management and silviculture services. Something else that sets them apart is that everyone on the management team has a wealth of practical, hands-on forestry experience. They’re flexible and will work with forest owners of any size. Whether you’ve got 10 hectares out the back of the farm or 30,000 hectares of plantation spread across the region, they can do the job. General Manager Neil Geerkens says “we contract in our crews so that we can match the skills and equipment to the work required. That allows us to keep our overheads down which is reflected in the return to our clients”. He adds “it also means we can offer them high-tech haulers and top end gear that they might not otherwise have access to. Ultimately it’s all about operating more efficiently to deliver a better return”. He says the company prides itself on financial
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transparency and providing a variety of options so that the forest owners can decide which best suits their financial situation. Another important consideration for forest owners’ is their environmental responsibility. That’s an area that the Harvest Management and Planning team is all over. They focus on minimising the forest owner’s impact and working as sustainably as possible. NFM believe that starts with building roads and landings to the required standards to control the sediment and includes initiatives for replanting deforested areas. They run pest and weed control, fire and kiwi protection programs. They also
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monitor forest health and work closely with DoC and Northland Regional Council on environmental issues. Neil says all forest owners need to be thinking sustainably to meet the recently introduced National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry. “We spend a lot of time and money making sure that our team is up to date with all the regulations. When we take on a job, we also take on a lot of the responsibility for Health & Safety and Environmental compliance.” Talking to the team it’s abundantly clear that they have the skills, passion and experience to complete any forestry task to the highest standard.
Forest Supervisor Michael Woollam checks out the next area for replanting in the Tangowahine Forest.
Pruning and thinning are part of the many services NFM offers.
Harvesting Marketing Silviculture Management