Timber Industries

Image: Where it all begins...Robert Appleton at Appleton’s Tree Nursery, Mt Heslington. By Tim Cuff.

OneFortyOne is a trans-Tasman business that owns and operates forests and sawmills in New Zealand and Australia.

Before we became OneFortyOne, we were Nelson Forests – a business that was well known throughout the region for growing sustainable wood and manufacturing high-quality timber.

We’re still the same business, even if we have a different name and logo. During 2020 we contributed a few articles to this publication but as we start 2021 we thought it was a good time to get back to basics and share an introduction to our business and some of the things we care about. This includes ensuring our people go home safe and well every day and the role we play in supporting sustainable prosperity in our region.

But first, a bit about our operations.

In New Zealand OneFortyOne manages 80,000 hectares of FSC® certified sustainable plantation forests in Nelson Tasman and Marlborough, and Kaituna sawmill near Blenheim.

The majority of our New Zealand logs and lumber is sold domestically to support local jobs and local processing. In New Zealand, OneFortyOne employs a diverse workforce of 116 people. We value a variety of perspectives and experience, and careers in our forests and mills include marketing, engineering, harvest planning and timber processing.

In addition, we support a contractor workforce of more than 300 people, making us one of the largest employers in the region. Our Kaituna Sawmill produces highquality timber products, including the famous Kaituna Post.

Home Safe and Well – every day

Our commitment to safety is central to our business. We want all our people to go home safe and well at the end of every day. Forestry can have a reputation for being an unsafe industry, however our safety numbers today are the best they have been in three years. Despite best efforts, accidents can happen, but we are making huge shifts in our culture to make sure that our people can both look after each other and hold each other accountable.

Sustainable prosperity

To us, sustainable prosperity means operating a safe, profitable business that benefits our communities and the environment.

Our business plays an important role in meeting climate change targets.

Carbon is stored in the trees we plant and grow. It stays locked within our timber products which are then used in building, furniture, and other items that we use every day.

While our forest estate is planted in Pinus radiata, what many people may not realise is that there are numerous waterways and conservation areas within our forest estate.

These areas of native bush and our plantation forest generally provide safe homes for a surprisingly diverse range of native birds, fish, and plants. Our forests have an important role to play in preserving biodiversity.

Our forest and mill products contribute to the Te Tauihu regional economy. Not only do our operations support high-quality local jobs but our products are essential for construction and daily living.

We support our communities through providing access to our forests for recreation, by looking after conservation areas, through monitoring native flora and fauna, through a range of community grants that support people, ideas, nature, and the environment, and through education activities. If you know of a school, community organisation or project that could make good use of a grant please let us know.

Future generations are important to all of us at OneFortyOne. Just as the trees and timber we work with today are our inheritance from foresters and sawmillers of the past, we are custodians of our wood fibre resource, and the land where it grows for those who will come after us.