The role we play as regulator of plantation forestry activity

Forestry can be a permitted activity under the National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry (NES-PF). This means, in most cases, a resource consent is not required to manage or harvest plantation forests.  

However, there are a small number of high-risk forestry activities that require a consent from us – for example harvesting trees on steep slopes where there is a high risk of erosion.  

Forestry operators notify us and submit a harvest management plan before tree harvesting begins. We review these plans to ensure they meet requirements. 

Trees are being harvested in many locations across the region. We visit forestry sites to do compliance checks where we have: 

• Granted a consent  
• Received a call on our Environment Hotline from a community member who has concerns that NES-PF rules aren’t being met. 

We use a risk assessment process to decide what other forestry sites to visit for compliance checks. 

Find out more about the regulations that apply for forestry operators.