Transition Forestry

Transition Forestry is an Aotearoa New Zealand initiative focused on guiding ageing pine plantations back toward permanent native forest. It addresses the challenge of transitioning mature exotic plantations, including those on steep, erosion-prone land, while seeking to keep people employed and hillsides stable. The organisation provides a space for honest conversation among foresters, carbon brokers, government officials, researchers and local communities as new approaches and changing rules shape the work.

Its website shares information about the transition, including the problem and the approach being tested, and introduces Rangitatau Forest, a 408-hectare project in the Kai Iwi catchment near Whanganui. Transition Forestry describes Rangitatau as a community-centred project, intended to work alongside people in the local rohe as the forest changes. The site also highlights the advisors, planters and research bodies that inform this work, and invites consultants, brokers, officials, neighbours and community members to make contact. Through these resources and connections, Transition Forestry supports discussion and learning around the shift from plantation forestry to native forest.