Sustainably supplying native beech

New Zealand's largest supplier of Southland beech for the residential and commercial construction market is seeing increasing acceptance of the use of the native timber by architects.

While architects and homeowners may have been showing reluctance in using some native species, Southland beech is harvested by Lindsay and Dixon under a Ministry of Primary Industries sustainable management plan and carries independent certification from the Forestry Stewardship Council.

The fine-grained medium-density hardwood has featured recently in finishings in the Supreme Court building in Wellington, Air New Zealand's Koru lounge in Christchurch and Auckland's Novotel Hotel.

Tuatapere-based sawmiller Lindsay and Dixon, in western Southland, is a Southland beech supplier certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. It

accounts for 80% of the sawmilling output of all native timber in the country.

The company recently commissioned a survey of architects to determine if there were concerns undermining the use of Southland beech, traditionally known as silver beech and also sold as maple and cherry beech, Lindsay and Dixon's managing director, Bernie Lagan, said the architects surveyed about using indigenous timber had highlighted the need to protect native trees and also raised concerns about habitat destruction.

''We found that the opportunity to specify native timber was often muddied by a general trend to avoid native timber.

''People feared for their business reputation and wanted to be regarded as an environmentally friendly business,'' he said.

Lindsay and Dixon's permissible annual harvest volume is 23,628 cu m, of all species and log grades, which equates to a sustainable yield extraction volume of 1.8%, the international standard being 10% of a forest stock.

Timber totalling an estimated 1.32 million cu m is taken from seven blocks in the Longwood and Rowallan forests, which are second-generation regenerating forests covering 11,582ha in Southland.

See the original post:
Sustainably supplying native beech