One of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest planted forests is at the centre of a new FSC campaign showcasing the value of forests ahead of International Day of Forests, tomorrow. That is according to FSC, which has used the occasion to spotlight Kaingaroa — close to 190,000 hectares of planted forest in the central North Island — alongside manufacturers, zoos and educators who use its certification system to close the distance between responsible forestry and the people who depend on it.
The campaign lands as buyers across Japan, China and Australia require chain-of-custody documentation from New Zealand suppliers as a baseline condition of trade. It showcases the value of certification and highlights how FSC standards set an internationally recognised benchmark for responsible forestry, giving assurance to buyers.
Colin Maunder has been sustainability manager at Kaingaroa Tipu for more than twenty years, long enough to watch FSC certification reshape not just how the forest is managed but what lives in it. The kārearea — New Zealand’s native falcon — is now found at its highest recorded density anywhere in the country within Kaingaroa’s canopy, a direct consequence of the biodiversity standards the certification demands.
“With FSC helping guide the way through some really strong standards around biodiversity, we’ve really taken the falcon on as our talisman,” Maunder said. “The reason it’s found at such high density is there’s a lot of biodiversity there — the falcon being the top of the food chain, it needs food to survive, and there’s plenty.”
The commercial case is just as tangible. Whakarewa Forest, also under Kaingaroa Tipu’s management, attracts more than 800,000 visitor days a year, with a Rotorua District Council survey valuing the mountain-biking economy built around it at over $120 million annually. FSC certification, Maunder says, is what lets that story reach the end consumer.
“What FSC does is prove — through whoever buys our logs, or further down the value chain to the customer in a shop — that the wood comes from a responsibly managed forest,” he said. “It’s really neat that we can tell that story through the label.”
At Abodo, the same certification has become a market position. Ben Campbell has been with the company for 17 years and has been overseeing its FSC certification for 16 of them. He built the business around a single proposition: that properly processed New Zealand radiata pine can replace old-growth timber.
The proof runs from the Tūhoe headquarters in Taneatua — New Zealand’s first living building — through to the Living Pā at Victoria University of Wellington, and now into export markets where architects increasingly demand natural materials with verified provenance. “When we think about responsible sourcing, our test is: if we continue consuming this product, will there be enough for future generations?” Campbell said. “That’s the fundamental.”
Wellington Zoo has carried the same message to its 250,000 annual visitors, embedding FSC labelling directly into its Sumatran tiger exhibit. With roughly 400 of the species left in the wild, conservation staff point visitors to FSC-certified wood and paper products as a concrete act — one that the zoo believes compounds at scale.
“If all of those people made one choice to use FSC products, that’s a huge, critical, massive change,” a Wellington Zoo conservation spokesperson said. “If they can make that connection and make that leap, then I think we’ve done our work.”
