Durable eucalypts in Marlborough: information for growers

Marlborough is the home of the NZDFI, initially established because of the wine-growing industry's perceived need for an alternative to CCA-treated radiata pine posts and poles. This post and pole market, combined with high summer temperatures and very low summer rainfall in many regions, make Marlborough highly suited to growing drought-tolerant durable eucalypts as a land-use diversification and as the basis for a sustainable regional hardwood industry.

Marlborough's Future is Durable - a regional development case study

NZDFI recently completed a full case study on the potential or a durable hardwood industry in Marlborough. The case study - 'Marlborough's Future is Durable', was funded by MPI's Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change fund (SLMACC).

The project concludes that a sustainable durable hardwood industry based on a total of 5,000 hectares of durable eucalypt plantations established between now and 2050, could generate $90 million per anum GDP. Two processing hubs are envisaged at Kaituna and Riverlands, each producing a different product mix. Products would include naturally durable vineyard posts, other timber and timber products, and residues from both harvesting processing could supply growing biofuel markets.

A 5,000ha forest resource will generate an average annual harvest of 50,000 tonnes. To create the resource, new planting of around 175-225ha/yr is needed for the next 30 years.

Where will the durable eucalypt forests be planted?

There are over 98,000 hectares of farmland in Land Use Capability (LUC) classes 5-7 within a 40km radius of one of the two processing hubs envisaged at Kaituna and Riverlands. (This excludes the recently designated Afforestation Flow Sensitive Areas, where new plantations are restricted.) There are also almost 60,000 hectares of forestry plantations.

5,000 hectares of new durable hardwood planting represents around 3% of this total land area.

Why Marlborough?

Marlborough now has over 30,000 hectares of vineyards, requiring over one million posts a year. The disposal of CCA-treated timber is a major environmental headache for vineyard owners and the Marlborough District Council. Durable eucalypt timbers require no chemical additives and can be chipped or used as firewood at the end of their lives; the timber is also much stronger than radiata pine, making it ideal for posts and poles for the vineyard industry.

Marlborough's advantages as a base for a regional hardwood industry include:

a massive potential market for posts and poles for local viticulture, horticulture and agriculture industries
large areas of land which is challenging to farm because of low annual rainfall and frequent summer droughts
a well-established forest industry with good infrastructure, and ports at Picton and Nelson
an innovative land-based research centre - the Marlborough Research Centre - which is an NZDFI partner.

The NZDFI is supported by Marlborough District Council, the Marlborough Research Centre, local landowners and a number of local businesses including Marlborough Lines. There are numerous NZDFI trials on a range of site-types in the Marlborough District, including some on very dry land.

Watch our videos of Marlborough growers
Contact your local forestry consultant They can provide information and advice on:
- choice of regime and developing a planting plan
- choice of species - the NZDFI has numerous trials in Marlborough, and your forestry consultant should be able to provide information on how different species are performing on a range of sites
- grants/financial and practical assistance available
Have a look through other sections in our Guidelines for Growers
Visit the Te Uru Rakau website for more information about One Billion Trees planting grants