The landscape and recreational value of pine trees and production forests: A case study of Ferry Road Pine Plantation

The forestry industry in New Zealand is well entrenched in the traditions of production economics, practicalities and progress and yet, at the same time, it occupies a very large proportion of the country's land which is now required to serve other goals of aesthetics, recreation, protection and conservation. If we accept that these other goals need to be incorporated in any land-use management plan we may condem the existing land-use patterns as being too one-eyed. However, land-use goals overlap quite considerably in many cases and before we attempt to broaden our management ideas we need to recognise the breadth that already exists. In other words, although straight rows of pine trees may seem to only serve the goal of economic production, we should look further and see whether those trees are also stabilizing the soil improving the water quality, providing a sanctuary for birds and other wildlife or even providing beauty in some cases. So a change in our thinking and levels of perception can improve our satisfaction with our environment. Production forests are only one part of our country, but a large and important part. Forests, depending on their size and position in a landscape can be very important visual features. Used in the right way they can increase the depth of our visual experience. Their distinctive forms and colour can dramatically emphasise landform and, just as effectively, create a background for other features. Visible changes in the forests caused by forestry operations can be dramatic and, therefore, need to be carefully handled. The scale of production forests and the challenge they present attracted me to carry out this study for my own interest as well as the requirements of my course. As in many other fields, New Zealand looks to overseas experience to guide us in our ventures and for this reason I have attempted a brief resume of the attitudes towards the use of production forests for their landscape and recreational value in some other countries as well as some of the investigative work being done here. I do not presume that all the ideas presented will be applicable to the New Zealand scene but even now there are existing parallels. In other countries, as well as New Zealand, the broad planning of forestry operations is gradually passing from the prerogative of one skill to the decision of a team representing many of the major interests of the region; this change applies similarly to other important land-uses, and it must surely be the logical procedure with the complexity of present day land use change and development. In Part II I will present the results of a case study in the light of the new attitude of looking for the positive attributes of a forest and how they outweigh the negative aspects rather than the simple question of whether to fell or not to fell for the single goal of timber production. It is my intention that the aspects investigated in this study and the approach of the investigation should have application in other situations.