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2001 Conference - Rotorua
Contribution to Workshop on
"Achieving the Balance - Weighing Developmental and
Environmental Priorities"
Bill Sutton
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Contents
Introduction
My comments come from a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
(MAF) perspective, with a particular focus on issues relating to
Māori land development.
MAF's Role in Achieving a Balance
When it comes to achieving a balance between development and the
environment, MAF sees itself as occupying the middle ground. Our
role as a department is to assist government in creating opportunity
for, and managing risk to, farming and forestry and the associated
industries. "Creating opportunity" implies a developmental
focus but "managing risk" includes managing environmental
risks.
MAF is required to provide advice to government on national
issues such as climate change, food safety, biosecurity and
genetically modified organisms. MAF also makes submissions on local
and regional issues. In the last year we have reduced this input,
for three reasons:
- the need to prioritise resources to provide advice on national
issues;
- the increasing capacity of farming and forestry sector groups
to represent themselves;
- many district and regional plans have already been completed.
One issue on which MAF has continued to provide input is water
resource allocation. These allocation decisions have major
implications for farming, forestry and the environment.
The Importance of Farming and Forestry
The economic development of New Zealand has been heavily
dependent on farming and forestry. These sectors will continue to be
important for the foreseeable future. As our Director-General Murray
Sherwin has said "If you look for where New Zealand has
potential for world scale there's agriculture, forestry, probably
tourism and possibly education".
Historically, governments have recognised this and have
intervened in many ways to assist with land development. The first
major intervention was to purchase or otherwise acquire around 95%
of New Zealand for European settlement. The government has also
provided a wide range of services. More recently the government
provided tax incentives, loans and subsidies. Eventually the subsidy
approach became self-defeating, and most of the subsidies and
incentives were swept away. The current policy approach is that most
investment decisions should be market-driven, within a broad context
of sustainable resource use.
Land Utilisation and Regional Development
Given the key roles of farming and forestry, it not surprising
that there is a correlation between land utilisation and regional
development.
The government has identified four regions as having "acute
development needs": the West Coast of the South Island, the
East Coast (Tairawhiti) region, the Eastern Bay of Plenty sub-region
and the Northland region. One of the most obvious features common to
these four regions is the high proportion of under-utilised land.
Under-utilised land has a depressing effect on development
because it results in less economic activity, less employment, less
income from rates and less regional infrastructure. Secondary
effects include loss of population and fewer government services.
Much of the land in the West Coast region is not available for
productive use because it has been reserved for conservation. In the
other regions, most of the under-utilised land is Māori land.
The Eastern Bay of Plenty sub-region has both Māori land and
conservation land.
Māori Land Utilisation
The total area of Māori land is 1.5 million hectares, around
9% of total private land. Most Māori land is in the North
Island. Most is suitable for either farming or forestry purposes. As
compared with total land, there is less Māori land in both the
best and the worst land use capability classes, and relatively more
in classes 6 and 7, which are generally considered to be best used
for either extensive grazing or forestry.
Around 3% of the land area used for horticulture is Māori
land, with most of this leased out for vegetable growing. These
statistics indicate that Māori land is under-utilised for
horticulture. A range of other information confirms that conclusion.
We don't have statistics on how much Māori land is used for
dairying or livestock farming. However, there do appear to be
issues, at least in some regions, relating to the productivity of
Māori farming. MAF research in the Tairawhiti region has shown
lower production levels and profitability, per hectare and per stock
unit, for Māori farms as compared with European farms on land
with similar capability. The average difference is around $200,000
per farm or $20 million per annum for the region.
Māori land makes up around 14% of the land area used for
plantation forestry. This is a comparable level of utilisation for
Māori land as compared with European land. However, the figures
for plantings since 1990 show that very little Māori land has
been planted in new forests. MAF sees this as an important issue for
the future of Māori land development.
Indigenous forests on Māori land make up around 40% of the
private land suitable for sustainable indigenous forestry. But the
area of Māori land approved for sustainable forestry management
is less than 2% of the total. So once again the Māori land is
being under-utilised. This is a particular issue for the Eastern Bay
of Plenty sub-region.
Barriers to Māori Land Utilisation
Why is so much Māori land under-utilised? It would be easy
to argue that Māori don't want to develop their land. However,
all our research so far indicates that Māori landowners want
their land to be productively used, for the benefit of the owners
and the community.
One major barrier to Māori land development is multiple
ownership, which means that the individual landowners have fewer
economic incentives. Why invest your time and money in land
development, when most of the benefits are going to be enjoyed by
others?
The current framework for Māori land ownership is Te Ture
Whenua Māori Act 1993. The Act's purpose is to facilitate and
promote "the retention, use, development, and control of
Māori land as taonga tuku iho by Māori owners, their
whanau, their hapu, and their descendents." In practice, the
main effect of the Act has been to ensure land retention, with few
specific measures to promote land development.
MAF's approach to Māori land development is to ask:
"Given the present system of land ownership, what can be done
to improve land utilisation for farming and forestry?"
Three Initiatives
The research we have undertaken in the Tairawhiti region
indicates that the key barrier to Māori farming development is
at the governance and management level. Last year the government
provided new funding to establish a Farm Improvement Co-ordinator
position in Tairawhiti. The co-ordinator is Mr Albert Horsfall, an
experienced Māori farm manager, trustee and director. The
approach being used is a combination of field days on Māori
farms, farmer discussion groups and advisory work. The project
appears to be off to a good start, judging from the big attendance
at field days.
In relation to plantation forestry, MAF considers the main
barrier to Māori land development is lack of finance. The
private sector is not willing to invest in new forestry development
on Māori land. It is difficult to see how this problem can be
overcome.
For an example of a successful initiative, I've gone back to the
1960s. In 1964 the Taupo County Council sent a deputation to the
Prime Minister, asking for extensive reserves to be established on
land around Lake Taupo. The Council was concerned about adverse
effects on the environment if the Māori land in the area was
developed for farming. After a lot of hard work, an agreement was
reached for the government to lease the Māori land and finance
the planting of a 22,000-hectare pine forest. Lake Taupo forest is
currently generating annual revenue for the Māori landowners of
$11.5 million and around 200 jobs in forestry and processing. So far
the government has recovered its full investment, plus compound
interest of 6% real.
In the context of this discussion, it's interesting to look at
the purposes stated in the lease:
(a) Preventing soil erosion, reducing pollution
of the waters of Lake Taupo and of the streams and rivers flowing
into and out of the ...Lake and minimising adverse changes in river
and lake waters
(b) Conserving and protecting fish and wildlife habitat and other
natural resources ...
(c) Preserving and safeguarding the graves of the Māori people
and all historic and sacred places ...and the areas of natural
beauty and scenery and of unique vegetation
(d) Consistent with the above purposes, establishing managing and
protecting a forest ...in a manner consistent with good forestry
practises so as to achieve the maximum financial yield to the ...
forest owner and ...Lessors ...
I think that is a fine statement on balancing developmental and
environmental objectives.
The third initiative relates to providing information. Last year
the Opotiki Development Project applied for and received a $50,000
grant from the Sustainable Farming Fund to develop a Māori land
use resource kit for Opotiki District. The kit provides starter
information on a wide range of potential land uses, plus information
on where to get further advice. In my opinion this is a very well
targeted initiative.
Richard Jefferies will be talking about the resource kit so I
will make only one further comment. In my opinion it is important to
provide Māori landowners with relevant information, and in
relevant ways. The resource kit is relevant information, for many
purposes, but it needs to be backed up by face to face interaction
with key Māori stakeholders, and more intensive work with
targeted groups, to overcome the barriers to land development.
Perhaps this is where a combination of approaches could be
effective.
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