This year City Forests celebrates 100 years of investment in forestry by the Dunedin City Council. 

The first plantings occurred in 1906, when 15,540 seedlings were planting around the Ross Creek Reservoir and Leith Valley area. 

100 years later through the foresight of the city leaders this investment has grown into a significant asset of 16,400 hectares of forest and a processing plant.

For the people of Dunedin this asset now has equity of over $71 million dollars, generates revenue in excess of $20 million per annum and has contributed $12.2 million in dividends to the city.

In addition to being an economic asset the City Forests estate provides significant benefits to the city through its recreational use, the protection of important flora and fauna, enhancement of landscape values, employment and carbon storage.

The attached time line highlights a number of significant events and achievements in our 100 year history.

In 1990 City Forests Limited was formed by the sale of the Dunedin City Council forestry assets to the new company for $25.7 million. 

The 16 years from 1990 to 2006 has been a period of high growth for the company and has seen a significant increase in the scale of the forest estate, harvest volume and revenue as well as recent investment in a processing plant.

During this period the company has paid a total of $12.2 million in dividends and grown shareholders funds by $45.4 million.  The total gain of $57.6 million (after tax) represents growth from the original 1990 investment of 277% equating to an annual return exceeding 7%

The company continues to provide significant social benefits to the people of Dunedin and contributes to the social, environmental and aesthetic fabric of the city.

City Forests is marking its 100 year celebration by the planting of a reserve area of native species alongside our Ross Creek walking track and the construction of a stone cairn and plaque at the site.  The Hon Peter Chin, Mayor of Dunedin and City Forests chairman Mr Ross Liddell will unveil this cairn followed by a function at the municipal chambers to recognise the significant contribution made by many people over the last 100 years to develop the asset the company has today.

Grant Dodson

November 2006

Dunedin City Forestry Timeline of Significant Events and Achievements

·         1906 Dunedin City’s first plantation forest was planted around the Ross Creek Reservoir on land owned by the Dunedin City Council  Water Department. Then  superintendent of the DCC Reserves Department, David Tannock, intended that  the new forest would increase the aesthetics of the area, control weeds (gorse and broom), improve the quality and quantity of water catchment, reduce evaporation and prevent erosion. The provision of timber as a commercial crop was secondary. A total of 15,540 pines and spruce and some ash and birch were planted in the first year. Booth’s House was purchased to make a nursery “to grow trees for planting the water reserves both at Ross Creek and the Leith Valley” – Tannock.

·         1908 Douglas fir seedlings imported from the USA.

·         1910 Land purchased at Whare Flat for forestry development.

·         1911 Whare Flat nursery and workers’ camp established.

·         1913 Rabbit-proof fence recommended for Whare Flat forest.

·         1914 Planting began on Flagstaff. World War One saw a dramatic decrease in the labour available for planting and forest maintenance.

·         1915 Land at Bethunes Gully purchased for forestry development.

·         1916 Two mature Menzies (sitchit) spruce trees harvested from Jubilee Park for the manufacture of aeroplanes.

·         1917 Returned soldiers employed to plant seedlings and clear gorse and broom. Plantings began at Sullivans Dam.

·         1920 Over 100,000 seedlings purchased from the government nursery at Rotorua.

·         1922 Tannock recommended “the planting of great many trees” at the Flagstaff Sanatorium. A national research programme concluded that grazing animals,       including deer, were “most harmful to the forestry industry”.

·         1924 Planting began at Waipori on land owned by Dunedin Electricity Light and Power Company, builders of the Mahinerangi dam and power station. Thinnings taken from the city’s forests used for fencing the New Zealand & South Seas       Exhibition complex at Logan Park.

·         1928 Empire Forest Conference held in New Zealand and Australia with delegates visiting Dunedin’ forests, described as “the most extensive and most satisfactory Municipal forests in the Empire”.

·         1931 The milestone of planting 1,000 acres (400ha) was reached (628,000 trees). During the Great Depression firewood from Ross Creek forest was donated to the unemployed via relief agencies and the Mayor’s Relief Depot. Coincidentally, the unemployed provided invaluable labour in the forests achieving record plantings.

·         1932 Tannock notes that “President Roosevelt and Herr Hitler are utilising           unemployed for improving forests in their countries”.

·         1934 Clearfelling of forest crop commenced at Flagstaff, the produce being sold for five shillings per 100 feet measure. Replanting began immediately.

·         1935 Serious fires in Flagstaff, Swampy Hill and Mount Cargill forests.

·         1938 Public awareness campaign on preventing forest fires.

·         1939 Severe winter storms and snowfalls caused damage to forests. Planting ceased during World War Two.

·         1948 Land purchased at Whare Flat from Boy Scouts’ Association.

·         1956 Sawmill opened at Waipori Village.

·         1959 Trial export of Whare Flat logs to Japan.

·         1970 Clear-felling of all blocks to meet Japanese export demands. Waipori forest area doubled with a land purchase, described by the Otago Daily Times: “the City Council has acted, dramatically and with flair, to give a necessary lead, and to show that Otago means business”.

·         1980 Dunedin City Council formed the DCC Forestry Department, transferring the management of forest assets from the DCC Parks & Recreation Department.

·         1988 Purchased a chipmill at North Taieri and formed a joint venture (Otago           Chipmill Limited) with South Wood Limited.

·         1990 City Forests Limited formed, later to become part of the Dunedin City Holdings Limited group (1993).

·         2001 Forest Stewardship Council certification awarded to CFL, one of the first major forest owners to achieve this in New Zealand. CFL reaches the milestone of harvesting over 100,000 cubic metres of timber in a single year (121,600cu3 compared to 61,300cu3 in 2000).

·         2003 CFL purchased the Silverpeaks Forest from Ngai Tahu Property Group Ltd.

·         2006 CFL’s Milburn wood processing plant opened near Milton. CFL acquired Opio Forestry Fund’s 830ha forest at Nobleburn and Kaitangata.