2013 has been a bad year for NZ forests and storm damage. Canterbury has been particularly hit, with four major wind events since June and the storms in September the worst in 40 years with up to 1 million cubic metres of wood potentially flattened. As well as shelterbelts, plantation forests and small stands have also been hit hard.

NZ's GHG emissions are projected to rise nearly 50 per cent by 2040, according to newly released government modelling. This is largely due to harvesting of forests planted in the 1990s combined with a lack of new plantings. Also cited is the National Governments weakening of the NZ ETS by failing to restrict foreign credits, halving polluters surrender obligations going forward, and exempting Agriculture indefintely. Read more here.