Item

Attitudes and opinions of high country pastoral farms concerning exotic forestry

Murray, P. H.
Date
1986
Type
Thesis
Fields of Research
ANZSRC::0701 Agriculture, Land and Farm Management , ANZSRC::050205 Environmental Management
Abstract
There has been an increasing demand by the private sector for the realisation of the productive potential of the high country while at the same time the public voice demanding the management and protection of the South Island high country for recreational, aesthetic and scientific values has grown increasingly strong. In such a situation there is potential for conflict. There is, however, the opportunity for integrating uses in the high country in a way which assures the maintenance of the resource and which satisfies the demands and interests of the various users. Commercial exotic forestry is one use of the high country which has been found to show both a potential to increase the economic productivity of the region, as well as representing a potential conflict with recreational, aesthetic and scientific values. This study describes the potential for commercial forestry in the high country by presenting the results of both formal study and practical experience to date. The study then presents the arguments which have been raised against exotic forestry in the high country to establish the case for projective planning in realising the commercial potential of forestry. The study then presents the proposition that to foresee farmer decision-making behaviour under varying economic circumstances, the aggregate of which results in productive land use patterns, is necessary to understand the farmer decision-making process. The study sets out to test the proposition that farmer decisions are more than simply economic ones. The study presents something of the theoretical understanding of the decision-making process and presents results from previous research into the decision- making behaviour of farmers and small forest owners. The study involved the detailed personal interviewing of 25 high country farmers on 24 properties in the Canterbury high country. The three study areas in which the study was carried out were Lees Valley, Waimakariri Basin and the North Bank of the Rakaia River. The questionnaire sought to examine the decision-making behaviour of the farmer, and to establish the importance of farmers' attitudes, values and personal objectives in their decision-making process. The study found that the stage of development of the property exerted the greatest influence on farmers' decisions on whether to invest capital into planting trees. Planting of trees for shelter was generally considered at an earlier stage a properties development than the planting of woodlots. Attitudes, personal objectives and personal preferences of the farmer were found to be important determinants of the nature and rate of forestry expansion on high country properties in situations where the property is at an advanced stage of development and where accumulated income is available for investment. The predominant attitudes, objectives and preferences that existed among farmers in the survey were consistent with an expansion of exotic forestry in the high country in the form of shelterbelts on developed flats and lower hills and woodlots for timber on the poorer land within these areas. However, the study concludes that under the present ownership of land and existing conditions for pastoral leases the rate of expansion of commercial forestry in the high country will be dependant on the financial state of the pastoral industry. The study finally recommends further study necessary for the successful introduction and integration of agroforestry into the high country scene.
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