Forestry Minister Todd McClay. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The government has cancelled this year's annual service charges for forestry under the emissions trading scheme.
Forestry Minister Todd McClay made the announcement as forestry leaders gather at the Fieldays in the Waikato on Friday.
In February, the government announced a review of forestry's role in the Emissions Trading Scheme, saying some owners had complained of what it called "excessive costs".
McClay said the government was removing the annual charge for 2023-24 to give forest owners some immediate certainty.
The annual service charge was introduced last year and amounts to $30.25 per hectare.
The minister said the government wanted to rebuild confidence in forestry and would be looking at issues raised in the independent review.
"There are more than 590,000 hectares of post-1989 forest land in the ETS and around 4200 forestry participants. We are working with the sector to ensure they have confidence in the function, operability, and cost recovery of the Forestry ETS."
At the same time, Todd McClay said the government would introduce initiatives this parliamentary term to bolster growth in forestry.
In a statement, he said that would include increasing wood processing in New Zealand and opening new markets for exports.
Nearly 60 percent of New Zealand harvest is exported.
He said it was also important to get a balance of a sufficient pipeline of logs as well as encourage planting trees to meet international climate change commitments.
