NZ opts for 2002 end to West Coast rimu forestryIt was planned to end rimu harvesting on March 31, 2002, Prime Minister Helen Clark told reporters following a weekly cabinet meeting.
"It's going to stop, these rainforests will go into the conservation estate and they will be there in perpetuity both for their intrinsic value and also of course for the ongoing benefit of the visitor and tourism industry on the West Coast," she said.
The government has previously cancelled West Coast beech logging contracts on land controlled by state-owned Timberlands - while proposing a NZ$100 million fund to help the sparsely-populated region develop new industries.
Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton this month boosted the fund offer to NZ$120 million and promised West Coast mayors that they would argue in cabinet for the continuation of rimu logging for the seven years remaining on the contracts.
But cabinet decided to cancel the contracts, using force majeure clauses.
The government has also rejected the view of the Green Party, on whom it relies for majority support in parliament, that there should be an immediate end to logging.
"The key consideration in reaching the date of March 31, 2002, is to minimise or obviate any job losses that might arise had we chosen a shorter transition period," Forestry Minister Pete Hodgson said.
Rimu will continue to be harvested on privately-owned land, but only after stringent criteria for the sustainable logging of the resource have been met.