Sustainable New Zealand native veneers
Written by
13 April 2021
•
4 min read
Imagine admiring your new veneer cabinetry and showing your friends a photograph of the tree it was made from—and the exact location from which it came. Not only that, imagine downloading the MPI Permit that goes with it. You would hope said friends would be impressed.
If it sounds to you like it has been done before, you’re right. Icebreaker created the novel concept of the ‘baacode’ for its merino clothing many years ago to track it back to the merino farm where it came from, says Desiree Keown, Group Marketing Manager for New Zealand Panels Group.
“From what we can tell though, this has never been done in the timber industry before and certainly not to this forensic degree of detail.
“The notion of sustainably sourced timber is hardly a new one. There are a number of international accreditations for timber suppliers such as PEFC or FSC, which give assurance that timber carrying those marks has come from verifiably sustainable plantations.
“However, when it comes to native New Zealand timber, the availability of plantation-grown native trees is rare, given their slow growth. The Ministry for Primary Industries has oversight of the local timber industry and issues logging permits for individual native trees, or stands of trees, on private or Maori land—but only where the trees fit into categories such as being windblown, part of an accessway, or salvaged.”
Track my Tree: from forest to veneer
Only millers who are registered with MPI may harvest trees and even then, they must operate under a Sustainable Forest Management Plan or Permit, which includes very strict guidelines for carrying out their logging operations, says Desiree.
“To make the process transparent from the forest, right through to the veneer press, New Zealand Panels Group took the lead and developed a unique tracking system—Track my Tree—to ensure those precious native trees were clearly identified at the time they were milled. Each unique code travels safely with the tree as it is cut into flitches, sliced and made into veneer layons for pressing at the company’s East Tamaki site.”
Track my Tree was introduced 18 months ago and provides a clear and proven chain of custody from the farm or forest right through to the company’s veneer press. With their own tree guy on the ground on the West Coast of the South Island—and his name really is Guy—New Zealand Panels has been proactively working with local millers to identify native trees and secure a more reliable supply.
