Nelson Management Limited

Environmental Monitoring Report 2013

Table of Contents

1. Monitoring Strategy 3

2. Biological Diversity 5 3. Productive Capacity of forests 7 4. Forest Ecosystem Health 12 5. Soil and Water 15 6. Carbon 23 7. Socio-economic Benefits 24 8. Legal, Institutional and economic framework 27

1. Monitoring Strategy The Nelson Forests monitoring strategy is aligned with the Montreal Process and covers the criteria and indicators for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests identified in the third edition of the Montreal Process December 2007. Some indicators are commercially sensitive and are not reported in this document these are noted in the text. Background to the Montreal Process and in particular the criterion and indicators is contained in the linked document>

Overview of Montreal

Process

Method and type of information collected for each criterion Objective Reporting frequency Review

Criterion 1 Biological diversity

GIS data coverage, stand records, cadastral datasets, rare threatened and

endangered species sightings, non plantation vegetation/habitat surveys and

classifications SHMAK testing results.

Reports able to be generated

Extent of area by forest/species/age class (including clear cuts)

Extent of non plantation area by protection status

Rare threatened and endangered species sightings

SHMAK test species.

Seedlot diversity

Enable reports to be generated on

biological , species and genetic diversity

Annual report to EIC As requested by

stakeholders

Criterion 2 Productive capacity of forests

GIS, Forest Management Information system, Stand records, Silviculture QC,

PSP, Trial and Inventory data, harvest plans, log sales, grazing licenses, access

permit database

Reports able to be generated

Timber production by species, total volume/hectare, stocking /hectare,

age, regime type, log grade, harvesting method, total recovered volume

against predicted volume by grade by forest by crew, grazing leases and forest

permits issued by type.

To measure the maintenance of productive

capacity of forest ecosystems

Timber volume forecasts over

60, 10, 3, and 1 year time horizon

and

Timber production over 24,12,3 &1

month horizon as required with

annual and quarterly updates.

Access permits as required

Data is gathered

continuously and

periodic reviews

occur quarterly for

timber production

Criterion 3 Forest Ecosystem health

NZ FOA Forest Health surveys and company dothi surveys

Pest notification by territorial authority and staff observations

Weeds by company staff observations

Fire weather status and fire events by Rural Fire Authorities and company staff

Reports able to be generated:

Forest health incursions and observations

Area treated for Dothistroma pini

Area treated with 1080

Herbicides used by type and rate

Weeds controlled by type and forest location

Fire weather status and fire events/incidents

To measure and maintain forest ecosystem

health and vitality

Annual report to EIC includes

Chemical use Other reports as

requested to support operations

within Nelson Forests Limited

reports available to Stakeholders

except where considered

commercially sensitive

Reviews

undertaken in

response to

national initiatives

and company

improvement

initiatives

Criterion 4 Soil and Water

Earthworks plans and engineering design in harvest plans, Staff diaries and

Roadline / operations meetings minutes, Operations completions inspections,

environmental incident reports including major storm events, EIC operations

audits, SHMAK tests, Local authority State of the Environment reports, and stand

records recording of tree growth over multiple rotations and fertiliser use records.

Reports able to be generated:

Stream health

Environmental incidents

Forest growth maintenance and enhancement, fertiliser use

To measure and maintain soil and water

resources

Incidents and stream health, SOE

reports made to EIC as they arise.

Forest productivity reported with

silvi QC

Reviews

undertaken as part

of the EIC process.

Nelson Forests Limited - Monitoring Plan

Criterion 5: Carbon

Total forest carbon and operations energy use to establish a total forest

operations carbon footprint.

Reports able to be generated:

Annual carbon footprint

To measure and maintain forests contribution to

global carbon cycles

Annual As required

Criterion 6: Socio-economic benefits

Economic: Production and sale of timber resources, operations planned and

undertaken R & D and capital investments, Regional economic development

surveys and reports, HR records of employment and wages. Forest valuation

Social: Safety and wellness programmes operating across employees and

contractors, Sponsorship committee, Scholarships offered to University,

Access and use of the forest including grazing, recreation and major sport

events and records of historic and cultural sites

Reports able to be generated:

Business financial reports,

R&D and sponsorship support,

Employee and contractor safety and wellness reports

Forest, cultural and historic sites and ecological attributes and use

To measure and maintain or enhance long term

multiple socio-economic benefits to meet needs

of societies.

Financial and safety is reported

monthly remainder as required

As required

Criterion 7: Legal, Institutional and economic frameworks

Legal: Property title and rates/lease, taxation documents, Business Support

function supporting resource consent and regulatory compliance, public access,

security, education, scholarship programmes and compliments/complaints and

disputes, EIC function to engage public representation in policy development,

EMS reviews and audits to encourage continuous improvement in best practice,

Coronation Forest participation, Resources Forester and Estate Forester

supporting forest measurement, inventory management and Business

Development Analyst integrating new technology

Reports able to be generated:

Legal area, Forestry rights, License conditions, Access agreements

Compliance with Government and local authority taxes

Resource consent number, EMS completions, environmental incidents,

Access and Security events

Forest productivity, growth, and condition

Legal, institutional and policy framework for

forest conservation and sustainable

management

As required As required

NOTE: The monitoring plan is extensive. Financial reports are not publicised. Personal details in any reports are not publicised.

The EIC will be consulted on the format and content of annual monitoring reports from time to time.

2. Biological Diversity Under this criterion the following indicators are reported:

• Land and Forest area

• Area change report for 2013 for P radiata and Douglas-fir. (Forest area by species/age class are commercially sensitive)

• Extent of non plantation area by protection status

• Rare Threatened and Endangered species reported sightings within the FMU

• SHMAK test species diversity is not specifically reported but is available on request. SHMAK test results are reported under Criterion 4 Soil and Water.

• Seedlot diversity is available on request

Land and Forest area Table 1 below shows the land and forest area description as at end August 2012. These metrics are updated and reported monthly and change in line with harvesting and replanting activity.

Current

Planted Area

1 Radiata pine 53,329

2 Douglas fir 6,081

3 Muricata pine 410

4 Minor species (various species) 955

Total Planted Area 60,775

Available For Planting 1,630

Potentially plantable (Unstocked gaps/windthrow) 3,197

Total Productive Land 65,602

Non Productive Land

Covenants/significant areas 2,187

Bush/indigenous forests/swamps 5,801

Unplanted Riparian’s/transmission lines/fire breaks 1,051

CFL – unusable (low productive capacity) 1,493

Roads/skids 1,156

Unplanted Other (Steep, Quarry, historic and hydrology) 405

Total Non-Productive Land 12,093

Total Land 77,695

Table 1: Land and Forest area description as at end August 2013

Major Plantation species area change report The area of P. Radiata increased from 53,654 to 54,101 ha in line with replacing the harvested Douglas-fir areas with P. Radiata and replanting of unstocked gaps within harvested areas. The area of Douglas-fir decreased from 6,447 to 6,140 ha in line with the decision to replant harvested areas with P Radiata. Of note is the minor changes recorded in the 2005 and 2006 age class as a result losses from the 2008 snow and wind damage events

Graph 1: P Radiata area change from June 2012 to June 2013 (End June)

Graph 2: Douglas-fir area change report from June 2012 to June 2013

Extent of non plantation area by protection status The indigenous areas in Golden Downs Crown Forest and free hold land within Tasman District Council area is subject to on-going survey started last year. Some areas reported within “indig.areas” are expected to be promoted into “Sig.Nat.&Wildlife” sites.

Table 2: Extent of non plantation area by protection status Rare Threatened and endangered species reported sightings within the FMU Staff and contractors are encouraged to report sightings of rare, threatened and endangered species as a means of raising awareness of the valued diversity within the Forest management Unit. A booklet highlighting RTE species was updated in 2013 and distributed to staff and contractors. Over the period 1 Jan 2011 to 30 August 2013. Each report is a separate observation although in three cases the same species of wildlife is reported from areas within close proximity to earlier sightings. There is no coincidence that there are no reports from Wairau Sth as this area was not an active operational area over the period reported.

Table 3: Reported sightings of RTE species within FMU for period 1 Jan 2011 to 30 August 2013

In addition the following species lists, Table 4 has been derived from the NZFOA website http://rarespecies.nzfoa.org.nz/ and the presence or absence information has been identified from the past surveys and individual sightings.

Forest Name Legal area Tas.Accord CFL Cov. Sig.Nat.& Wildlife Other Indig. areas Total

Gloden Downs CFL 41469 406 185 3624 4215

Rai CFL 9234 99 121 889 1109

Wairau Nth CFL 9473 399 466 865

Awatere 664 48 2 50

Brightwater 163

Kainui 2969 93 141 234

Korere 717 15 60 75

Linkwater 144 25 17 42

Moutere 676 3 45 48

Opouri 351 14 14

Rainy River 1455 25 172 197

Serpentine 632 92 80 172

Te Hepe 654 54 11 65

Wairau Sth 5997 34 106 50 190

Wakamarina 1439 494 121 615

Crump JV 94 3 3

Farnell JV 200 7 7

Hunt JV 31

Proffit JV 80 5 5

LINZ-Railway 61

Total 76503 832 505 862 5707 7906

GDNS RAI Wairau Nth Wairau Sth Total

NZ Falcon 16 4 4 21

Weka 4 1 6 10

Kea 3 2

Kaka 1 1

Table 4: Y = additional sightings or observations reported by Nelson Forests since 2009

Fauna

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Southern long-tailed bat

Banded dotterel

Blue penguin

Dwarf galaxias

Northern flathead galaxias

Giant kokopu

Lamprey

NZ Long-finned eel Y

Short-jawed kokopu

Brown mudfish

Northern koura (freshwater crayfish) Y

Falcon Y Y Y Y

Great spotted kiwi

Kea Y

Kaka Y

Kakariki

Long-tailed cuckoo

Western weka Y Y Y Y

Whio (blue duck)

Fernbird Y

Powelliphanta snails Y

Rough gecko

Scree skink

Speckled skink

Spotted skink

Trees

Deciduous Tree Daisy - Olearia hectorii

Pitpat - Pittosporum patulum

Shrubs

Pink Tree Broom - Carmichaelia carmichaeliae

Climbing Broom - Carmichaelia kirkii

Weeping Broom - Carmichaelia stevensonii

Carmichaelia vexillata

Coprosma obconica

Bloodwood - Coprosma wallii

Neinei - Dracophyllum urvilleanum

Melicytus flexuosus

Streamside Daisy - Olearia cheesemanii

Small Leaved Tree Daisy - Olearia polita Y

Pimelea tomentosa

Parasitic plants

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Scarlet Mistletoe / Korukoru - Peraxilla colensoi Y

Red Mistletoe / Pirirangi - Peraxilla tetrapetala

White Mistletoe - Tupeia antarctica

Aquatic herbs

Stout Water Milfoil - Myriophyllum robustum

Yellow Bladderwort - Utricularia australis

Dicot herbs

Brachyscome pinnata

Epilobium chionanthum

Shore Spurge - Euphorbia glauca

Button Daisy - Leptinella filiformis

Myosotis brevis

Pachycladon cheesemanii

Swamp Buttercup - Ranunculus macropus

Ranunculus ternatifolius

Fan Leaved Mat Daisy - Raoulia monroi

NZ Mustard Cress - Rorippa divaricata

NZ Scull Cap - Scutellaria novae-zelandiae

Swamp nettle - Urtica linearifolia

Orchids

Bearded greenhood - Plumatochilos tasmanicum

Snail greenhood – Linguella puberula

Swamp greenhood - Pterostylis paludosa

Sedges Rushes and Grasses

Gassy Mat Sedge - Carex inopinata

Native Iris - Libertia peregrinans

Dwarf Woodrush - Luzula celata

Uncinia strictissima

Ferns

Ophioglossum petiolatum

3. Productive Capacity of Forests Under this criterion the overal productive capacity of the forest management unit is monitored including timber production, grazing leases and community activity within the forest recorded by permit issue. Timber production: Timber production by species, total volume/hectare, stocking/hectare, age, regime type, log grades, total recovered volume against predicted volume and harvesting methods are key metrics monitored by Nelson Forests limited. Operational areas within the estate are aerially photographed each quarter and the estate is remapped to account for harvest depletions and any stand losses due to windstorm events. Stand records are maintained, in a forest management information system (GFMIS) summarising every operation undertaken. Detailed inventory (stocking and stem form) is collected from the stands within the estate as the stands approach maturity / harvest age. The GFMIS supports estate planning and supply chain planning processes, as shown in the matrixes below. Together these processes form the basis of timber production management. The information is commercially sensitive and is not reported here or made public.

Nelson Forests Estate Planning

Plan Reviewed Time Frame

in ViewPurpose

Estate Model Annually 30 years +

Resource model is generated from GFMIS data

(silviculture details by block ,all area data,species

age class)

"Woodstock" used to grow a 30 year forest

description using YTGEN yield tables

Ten Year

Rseource PlanAnnually 10 Years

Forest description is interfaced back into GFMIS

Stands are prescribed harvest start dates, grade

out turn and volumes

Five Year Cut

PlanAnnually 5 Years

Transition from stands to operational harvest units

"Practimisation" provides an array of stands

available for harvest

Basis for planning harvest activities

Optimised using Woodstock intefaced back into

GFMIS,

Annual Plan Annually 1 Year

1st year of five year plan

Interfaced with Financial System

Detailed plan based on specific allocation to

customers

GFMIS contains all budget costs and revenues

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Nelson Forests Supply Chain Planning

Plan Reviewed Time Frame

in ViewPurpose

Sales and

Operational

Plan

Monthly 1-18 months

Balances Demand and Supply

Links business plan to operational plans

Creates cash forecasts,Scenario analysis

Value Optimisation across the supply chain

Master

Production

Schedule

Monthly 1-6 months

Translates SOP plan into detailed plans in

order to plan roading,harvest,

truck ing capacity,schedule crews

GFMIS

Weekly

WoodflowWeekly Weekly

Matches customer orders

with production in detail

Optimised"Right grade,Right

Customer,Right Stand

Cut Cards Weekly WeeklyInstructions to harvest crews

Grades required from each stand

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4. Forest Ecosystem Health

Under this criterion we report on forest health surveys, dothistroma pinii surveys, pesticide use and fire weather conditions and fire incidents. Forest health: Nelson Forests Ltd participates in the New Zealand Forest Owners Association (NZFOA) Forest Health survey. All forest areas were surveyed by an independent forest health specialist no new incursions were found and the forest was in generally very good health. Detailed reports are available on request to approved parties. Pesticide use: A comprehensive database of our chemical use including pesticides and fertilisers is maintained, a summary is produced below.

Graph 4 Total active ingredients (herbicide) by year NOTE: 2013 is YTD August 2013 and no release chemicals have

been used at thistime

Graph 5 Herbicide use by active ingredient/ha by year

Graph 6 Total Copper (elemental) applied for dothistroma control by year

Graph 7: Pesticide active ingredient applied by year

Fire weather and Fire incidents: The graph below shows the Fire Weather Index for the Waimea Rural Fire District for the period November 2012 to April 2013.

Graph 8: Waimea rural Fire District Fire weather Index for 2012 - 13 fire season

Rural Fire Network Ltd has developed guidelines in association with Nelson Forests Limited for Forestry Operations Fire Danger Codes. The guidelines outline prevention measures to be undertaken by all forestry crews as the fire danger increases. They have proved extremely effective at reducing risk and fire starts particularly in high fire danger periods which were common place during the 2013 drought.

Fire incidents. There were no fire incidents in Nelson Forests FMU in 2012- 13. During the year a High Court trial in Nelson found a person guilty of the arson fires set in 2012 within the FMU.

Marlborough Enlarged Rural Fire District Marlborough Kaikoura Rural Fire District was established in July 2012 and is proving very effective under the management of the PRFO Richard MacNamara. Nelson Forests Limited has worked with the PRFO to introduce forest operations controls into the MKRFA. Nelson Forests Limited provides trained personnel to both Waimea and Marlborough Kaikoura districts and has two fire appliances located in both districts for response (a total of Four Fire Appliances)

5. Soil and Water Under this criterion we report:

• Stream health monitoring,

• Environmental observations and incidents reported

• Fertiliser use in the FMU.

• In addition, and where available, we report on local authority state of the environment (SOE) reporting where their forest indicators include sites influenced by our activities within the FMU.

In addition to the monitoring reported here there is extensive operations supervision and management that covers planning, design, performance management and completion reporting of operations and environmental audits. Forest growth and measurement is recorded in forest information systems and is not reported here. Operational decisions are recorded in Roadline and Operations meeting minutes and in staff diaries. A contractor performance reporting system includes delivery, value, volume, productivity, environmental and safety performance metrics. Stream Health Nelson Forests has a network of sites where stream health monitoring is undertaken using NIWA Stream Health Monitoring and Assessment Kits (SHMAK) . http://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/freshwater/tools/shmak/shmak-manual to verify the water quality and stream health. A range of signature sites are selected to represent the forest regions. The monitoring is undertaken across the seasons and covers the period 2009 to 2013. Exact dates are recorded but not shown in the graphs below. They are available on request. The SHMAK test is an indicator test which records the lasting effects of the stream conditon over time. Low scores generally mean that the stream has suffered a recent acute change or is suffering longer term chronic conditions. High scores indicate recent and long term conditions have not caused significant degradation.

Map 1 Locations of Nelson Forests Stream Health monitoring sites

The Environmental Improvement Committee held a field trip with Trevor James TDC and Paul Fisher NCC to learn more about stream health and monitoring techniques in 2013 and we are looking at intergrating two new monitoring techniques into our stream testing. We will be using Black Disc measures in the stream, in addition to the SHMAK method of testing a column of water in a 1 meter tube. We will also be looking at using the “shuffle” method to test sedimentation.

Graph 9: Kaiuma d/stream site SHMAK test reults spanning recent harvesting activity

The Kaiuma site was monitored approximately monthly during the initial logging activity to identify any effects from our activities.Following on-going high quality results monitoring frequency was reduced

Graph 10: Golden Downs Forest SHMAK test results Note: Where a site is followed by a number it is the second test of the same site

Graph point label 16 is from Roughans creek where no active operations earthworks or harvesting has taken place we suspect the lower score is due to intermittent flow from this catchment.

Graph 11: Wairau Forest SHMAK test results

Sites within the Wairau Forest cover a range of streams with harvesting activities all sites remain very healthy

Graph 12: Rai Forest SHMAK test results

Rai forest sites continue to produce Good to Excellent Shmak results

Reference: TDC Our Freshwaters River Waaer Quality 2010 Summary report page 9

The 2010 state of the environment report from TDC shows water quality from exotic forest land use is comparable with Indigenous forests for clarity, nitrates and E coli There is no update available in 2013.

Nelson City SOE monitoring on sites related to NFL land

Note Denckers stream sampling point is downstream of forest and the high E Coli is likely to be associated with livestock

Nelson Forests’ plantations contribute to sites 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 and are monitored as part of the Nelson City Council 2012 water quality montoring programme they are all very good or

excellent quality.

Environmental incidents Soil stability following earthworks is a key area of risk management for forestry operations. The number of skid/ skid slash failures (which generally occur following heavy rain events) is monitored on a calendar basis to determine trend analysis. The graph below shows the trend by year. The degree of subsidence varys from incident to incident from minor movement of some slash/sediment to a large landslide. Over the period 2010 to 2013 extreme rainfall events have affected areas across New Zealand and within the Nelson Forests Limited FMU. A review of best practice and risk management is ongoing at a national level and locally and new initiatives to manage the downstream risk are emerging. Most notable is the Future Forest Research FFR research into GIS tools for slope failure risk identification and the introduction of bioengineered debris traps (poplar fences) planted near the mouth of high risk catchments upstream of assets within the flood plain. A full report of a high magnitude storm in Tapawera area is available on request. In summary the report shows that Forestry infrastructure responded very well to the high intensity (>60 mm/hr) storm event and the major feature of the storm was mid slope failures resulting in debris avalanches.

Skid failure by size and year Year 2010 experienced two storms with return periods exceeding 1:50 and causing considerable mid slope landslides as well as

causing landing fill slips mostly small <5m3 or medium 5-15m3 in size

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Year

Skid failures reported

Large subsidence Medium subsidence Small subsidence

Soil nutrition A measure of plantation forestry sustainability is crop nutrition. Each year the 3 year old age class foliage is sampled for folia nutrition and fertiliser is applied to correct any deficiencies. The application of fertiliser is a measure of the fertility of the land occupied by the current 3 year old age class. It is our experience to date that we apply boron to approximately 40% of the estate, nitrogen over approximately 5%, Phosphorus approximately 10% and Magnesium generally none. It is uncommon to apply fertiliser to any site more than once in the rotation of 30 years.

Total elemental fertiliser applied to the FMU each calendar year

6. Carbon In 2007 Nelson Management Ltd sponsored a master’s student, Daniel McCallum to calculate its carbon footprint. In the year 2007 the forest sequestered 1.43 million tonnes of CO2. 1.28 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent were removed as logs (roundwood) and the business used 41,000 tonnes of CO2 in its operations. Overall in 2007 there was a net gain in CO2

fixed of 105,423 tonnes. Annual calculations were completed in 2007, 2008 and 2009 to monitor NML’s carbon footprint over time. A five yearly update will be completed in 2014, it is considered sufficient given the consistent operational activity and net sequestration position.

Figure Nelson Forests Carbon Balance for 2007 2008 and 2009

7. Socio Economic Benefits Under this criterion we monitor social and economic factors including: Social indicators

• Safety and wellness programmes and results

• Sponsorship

• Scholarships

• Forest Access, incuding grazing, recreation, major sports events Economic indicators

• Production and sale of timber

• Operational planning

• R&D and capital investments

• Regional economic development reports

• HR records

• Forest valuation Many of the socio economic reports are commercially sensitive or include personal information and are not reported here. Social Indicators:

Key safety metric for Nelson Forests Limited

Nelson Forests has made significant improvements in reducing the severity of incidents and maintains high safety perfomance across its operations. A serverity rate of 20 means 20 days are taken off work due to a safety incident for every 100 full time employees per year.

Sponsorship: During the past 18 months Nelson Forests Limited sponsored the following groups Among others:

• Tasman Makos

• Nelson Football club

• Wanderers Sports club

• Tapawera Rugby club

• Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter

• Maori Economic Summit Hui

• Waimea College and Golden Bay High School

• Rai Valley A&P show

• Motueka High School - vehicle for primary trades academy students In addition Nelson Forests limited has awarded sponsorship to a range of individuals across the communities of Nelson and Marlborough Scholarships and educational support: Nelson Forests also welcomes secondary and tertiary student groups including Marlborough Boys College rural studies class, University of Canterbury Forestry School year 3 class and Motueka High School primary trades academy class. Nelson Forests Limited Tertiary Scholarship programme providing funding and work experience for up to 4 students at any time and each scholarship can be awarded for up to 5 years of study per recipient. Economic indicators

• Production and sale of timber

• Operational planning

• R&D and capital investments

• Regional economic development reports

• HR records

• Forest valuation Business financial reports are prepared monthly they are not available for distribution outside the business. Operational planning is documented in working files and diaries of staff and not reported here. Examples are available on request R&D and capital investments: Nelson Forests Limited is a member / shareholder of three research companies namely the Radiata Pine Breeding Company, Future Forests limited and the Solid Wood Initiative. The programmes span the forest growing and wood processing value chain. Research topics include genetic improvement, forest productivity, integrated weed management (and identifying alternative chemicals), and solid wood processing. The research spans applied research as well as stretch or blue skies fundamental research programmes to improve the economic and environmental performance of the forest industry. Kaituna Sawmill completed a significant upgrade programme in 2012 with the installation of a bin sorter and trimmer enabling the increase in log input. The

upgrade is a reflection of the confidence in the business model adopted by Nelson Forests Limited. Regional economic indicators: Nelson Regional Economic Development Agency update the Nelson Region’s Economic progress 6 monthly reports are available at the following link: http://www.eda.co.nz/sites/default/files/uploads/pdfs/Tracking%20the%20Economy/Tracking%20the%20Economy%20Winter%202012.pdf Excerpts from the report: Employment trends in Forestry, Logging and wood processing:

The forest and wood processing industry continues to be a large employer in the Nelson / Tasman region and despite the Global Financial Crisis the rural based industries generally have maintained continuity for the region’s economic and social development.

8. Legal, Institutional and Economic Frameworks Under this criterion the following reports are able to be generated:

• Legal area including forestry rights

• CFL Licences and conditions

• Rates and taxes paid

• Access agreements and security

• Compliance with laws including Resource Consents held

• EMS completions

• Environmental incidents

• Forest health and productivity Many of these metrics are reported above. Some metrics include people’s names and are not reported here. Commercially sensitive information is not reported here. Grazing Leases and Permit issue: Grazing leases: Grazing leases have been established in many areas within the Nelson Forests Ltd owned or managed estate. In the most part they have been established because the land itself was more suited to agricultural use than forests because of access or climatic reasons. Nelson Forests Ltd maintains grazing permits for these areas and charges a commercial lease in line with the term and land value. There are a total of 36 grazing licences and 9 bee keeping licences isued covering 3032 hectares of which 186.9 hectares is non forested land. Permit issue Nelson Forests Ltd manages entry into the forest by permit. The Graph below shows the numbers of permits issued by year.

Graph 3 Permit issue by primary use for the period 2004 to 2013

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Permits issued by type

Other

Recreational (Tramping,

Biking)

Possum Trapping/Bait laying

Motorsport Event (Rally, Off-

Road)

Horse riding

Hunting

The decline in numbers of permits issued in 2011 and 2012 is believed to be the result of issuing permits for multiple forests and or activities which has reduced a number of duplicated permits otherwise represented in previous years. Each year between the months September and April the forest is generally closed due to fire risk. See section 4 for an overview of fire weather monitoring. Other activities Each year Nelson Forests holds a week long Coronation Forest commemorative event for the schools of Nelson region. Over 170 children aged between 9 and 10 attended Coronation Forest week in Nelson Forests in 2013. Each student planted up to 5 Radiata seedlings and learnt about the value of plantation forestry in providing wood for buildings, jobs for people and allowing native forests to be conserved. Three activities are delivered including planting plantation trees walking a conservation trial with ecologists describing the values in New Zealands natural forest and either visiting a harvesting operation OR undertaking a plantation study looking at the features of a growing plantation forest. The week is enjoyed by both the the schools participating and Nelson Forests staff.