Forestry updates

Cultivating change: navigating the new land use limits in the Emissions Trading Scheme
17 Jan 25

The Government has signalled changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme which aim to curb excessive conversions of farmland to forestry land while still allowing forestry (on less productive land) to play an important role in New Zealand’s climate strategy.  These policy changes are to be ...

Greening the margins: Unlocking the potential of small forestry blocks in New Zealand
17 Jan 25

As New Zealand faces increasing pressure to address climate change, restore ecosystems, and manage land sustainably, converting marginal land into forestry blocks is gaining attention Marginal land, often unsuitable for agriculture due to poor soil, steep slopes, or erosion risks, can be transformed into small ...

Carbon Forestry NZ Conference 2024
21 Aug 24

Anderson Lloyd were pleased to once again sponsor this year's Carbon Forestry NZ Conference, held in Rotorua this week. This event brought together over 300 industry leaders to workshop with and hear from informative and innovative speakers on carbon forestry markets, developments and legislation. Dan ...

Short-Rotation Forestry Could Hold the Key to Lowering New Zealand’s Fossil Fuel Dependency
30 May 24

Following a two-year exploration of renewable energy solutions, Crown Research Institute Scion has released a statement highlighting the potential of short-rotation forestry (SRF) to significantly reduce New Zealand’s current reliance on fossil fuels – in particular, coal.  The relevant media release can be found here. ...

Forest Fires and Liability
13 Jun 23

A recent decision by the Court of Appeal serves as a useful summary of how liability is determined for forest and rural fires. Leisure Investments NZ Limited Partnership v Cecile Grace & Ors was an unsuccessful appeal by Leisure Investments NZ Limited Partnership (Leisure LP) ...

Overseas Investment (Forestry) Amendment Bill
20 Jun 22

Parliament has recently introduced the Overseas Investment (Forestry) Amendment Bill (Bill) which is currently at the select committee stage. The main purpose of the Bill is to prohibit overseas investors who plan to convert farm land to forest in New Zealand (Forestry Conversion) from using ...

Succession and Forestry Rights
20 Apr 22

We have recently been working on succession planning when dealing with forestry assets with accountants and our farming clients. While families may wish to leave their forestry assets to their children, care must be taken in structuring this arrangement to avoid adverse tax consequences. Under ...

Special forestry test under the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to end for overseas investors planning to convert farm to forest
2 Mar 22

The Government is seeking to reintroduce the benefits test for overseas investment in pasture to plantation forestry conversion. On 24 February 2022 Associate Minister of Finance David Parker announced the Government will be seeking to end the streamlined special forestry test for overseas persons where ...

Carbon Forests
12 Oct 21

With the dramatic increase in the price of NZUs over the last few years, a number of rural land owners are starting to think seriously about carbon forestry. Anderson Lloyd has advised a number of clients about the legal options and structures for implementing a ...

Forests (Regulation of Log Traders and Forestry Advisors) Amendment Bill
28 Jul 20

The Forests (Regulation of Log Traders and Forestry Advisors) Amendment Bill (the Bill) passed its third reading in Parliament on 22 July and is now awaiting Royal Assent. The Bill amends the Forests Act 1949 (the Act) by adding a new Part 2A and implementing ...

Recent Prosecutions of Forestry Companies
24 Feb 20

Flooding in some regions of New Zealand over the past few years has highlighted the need for careful environmental management and monitoring of forestry estates, particularly in areas where there is a high risk of erosion due to the underlying terrain. Several forestry companies have ...

The Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018: What it means for the forestry industry
26 Oct 18

On 22 October 2018, the much publicised Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018 (Amendment Act) and the Overseas Investment Regulations 2018 (Regulations) came into force. The Amendment Act represents a dramatic shift in how overseas investment in forestry will be considered under the overseas investment regime. ...

For more information contact:

Dan Williams

e: dan.williams@al.nz