New Zealand Legislation: Regulations

3 Interpretation

• In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—

  Act means the Forests Act 1949

  active establishment—

  • (a) means the direct human-induced conversion of unforested land to an eligible forest through planting, seeding, or promotion of natural seed sources; but

  • (b) excludes the clearance on or after 1 December 2007 of 5 or more hectares of land predominantly in naturally occurring indigenous tree species

  approved harvesting practice means—

  • (a) a harvesting practice that is consistent with continuous cover forestry; or

  • (b) any other harvesting practice approved by the Minister under regulation 8

  assigned amount unit has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Climate Change Response Act 2002

  basal area means the total cross-sectional area of all trees, excluding bark, measured at a point that is 1.4 metres from ground level on the uphill side of the tree, expressed in square metres per hectare

  carbon stock, in relation to a forest sink, means the total carbon stored in a forest sink

  continuous cover forestry means the management of a forest sink where the harvesting of trees retains a minimum of 80% of the pre-harvest basal area on each hectare for the first harvesting operation, and for subsequent harvesting, either a minimum of 80% of the existing pre-harvest basal area on each hectare or 80% of the previous pre-harvesting basal area on each hectare, whichever is the greater

  Example

  If the basal area for a given hectare is 100 square metres, then 80% of this basal area must be retained at the end of the initial harvest. Subsequent harvesting may only occur if the basal area is above 80 square metres for the hectare and may not drop the basal area below 80 square metres. If the landowner leaves the forest to grow to a basal area greater than 100 square metres after a harvest, then the 80% retention requirement applies to the greater basal area (that is, if the basal area increased to 140 square metres, the subsequent harvests may not drop the basal area below 112 square metres).

  eligible forest—

  • (a) means an area of land of at least 1 hectare that has, or will at maturity have, tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than 30% in each hectare in which—

    • (i) the trees have the potential to reach a minimum height of 5 metres at maturity in the place where they are located; and

    • (ii) the forest consists of—

      • (A) closed forest formations where trees of various heights and undergrowth cover a high proportion of the ground; or

      • (B) open forest; and

  • (b) includes areas normally forming part of a forest that are temporarily unstocked as a result of human intervention or natural causes but that are expected to revert to forest; but

  • (c) does not include—

    • (i) a shelter belt where the tree crown cover at maturity has or is expected to have an average width of less than 30 metres; or

    • (ii) areas of land where the tree crown cover at maturity has or is expected to have an average width of less than 30 metres, unless the area is contiguous with other eligible forest; or

    • (iii) horticultural crops

  first commitment period has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Climate Change Response Act 2002

  forest sink means eligible forest that is growing or will be grown on Kyoto-compliant land as the result of active establishment

  forest sink area means the area specified as the forest sink area in a forest sink covenant

  forest sink plan means the plan completed by the landowner, and includes the requirements that the landowner must meet for the—

  • (a) active establishment of the forest sink; and

  • (b) management of the forest sink

  harvesting means the felling and removal of timber from a forest sink area

  Kyoto-compliant land means any land not covered by an eligible forest as at midnight on 31 December 1989

  Registry has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Climate Change Response Act 2002

  restricted period, in relation to a forest sink covenant, means 99 years from the date on which the covenant is registered under section 67ZD of the Act

  units has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Climate Change Response Act 2002.