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ewanmcgregor's blog
MY VISION
A leafier Hawke’s Bay with well chosen tree species, well sited and appropriately managed to enhance and protect the environment, add to the economy and enrich our quality of life
Note: You will get no idealistic waffle from me about being everything to everyone, but really achieving nothing for anyone.
My Background
I have lived in Hawke’s Bay all my life, being born at Napier and attending Waipawa Primary School and Napier Boys High School. Throughout my adult life I have farmed at Hautope east of Waipawa and now reside in central Hastings with my wife Cynthia Bowers. Most weekends are spent back at the farm at Hautope where I plant and tend trees. This is the main personal manifestation of my commitment to Landcare. In my spare time I write and carry out forestry and environmental promotion and consultancy
Silvopastoralism (timber and pasture production in association) may offer an opportunity to mitigate adverse down-stream environmental affects of dairy farming, especially on the pumis soils of the North Island’s volcanic plateau.
The choice of tree species is crucial. Here poplar stands out as the obvious first choice. Poplar;
Is a vigorous grower, far ahead of other deciduous hardwoods;
has a natural apical form, making it suited for wide-spaced planting;
is deciduous, reducing the impediment of pasture growth. (Indeed, in its early years pasture growth may be increased;
(Published in the Tree Grower, the Journal of the Farm Forestry Assn.)
At the start of the 20th Century virtually 100% of New Zealand's timber was won through the exploitation of our natural forest. Today the position is completely reversed with our wood production coming almost entirely from plantation forest.
Further, that production is well in excess of our domestic requirements and the forest industry is poised to become our biggest export earner. This puts New Zealand in a unique position as well less than 10% of world timber production is harvested from plantation forest.
One of the characteristics of German forests, and I believe other European countries where the ethic and traditions of forestry are strong, are family forests. This offers continuity, a sense of pride (“I’m the sixth generation to own the forest”) and the commitment that owner operation ensures.
Notwithstanding doubters the evidence is overwhelming that man-induced global warming, or at least climate change, is happening. This, more than any other environmental issue, is an international challenge, and therefore requiring a strategy that transcends national boundaries. To date this has been relegated by nationalism. ‘Copenhagen’ is the evidence, if any is needed.
So why should we in Hawkes Bay wait for the collective of national governments to arrive at a consensus aimed at mitigating global warming by reducing greenhouse gases? We should not! Inaction is an abdication of our responsibilities to generations yet unborn!
Can we, the people of Hawkes Bay, respond to this challenge, and as a community take an initiative that could serve as an inspiration to other regions in New Zealand and beyond?