Summit Forests. June Dear Stakeholder

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "Summit Forests. June Dear Stakeholder"

Transcription

1 Summit Forests June 2014 Dear Stakeholder This letter has been sent to you as you are considered an important stakeholder in the activities of our company Summit Northern Plantation Limited after our first birthday, 20 th March The intention of this letter is to give you some information on our company, what the first year has been like and plans for the future. If you would like to be taken off our mailing list please and let her know, thanks. The company: Summit Northern Plantation Limited (SNP) is a New Zealand registered company and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Summit Forest Management of NZ Limited. Summit Forest Management of NZ Limited is a New Zealand registered company, the shares in which are ultimately owned Sumitomo Corporation, one of Japans most respected trading and investment companies with a history dating back to the 17th century, and now listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Sumitomo group of companies is an international conglomerate with a wide variety of business interests across the world. Sumitomo Corporation is a leading general trading company, boasting 140 locations in 65 countries throughout the world. The entire Sumitomo Corporation Group consists of nearly 790 companies and about 72,000 personnel. Our Corporate mission is to "achieve prosperity and realize dreams through sound business activities". To that end, we are continually striving to grow our business, utilizing our global network spanning numerous business sectors. Throughout our 400-year history, the Sumitomo Group has pursued industrial development that co-exists with local communities and the natural environment. With such historical background, the Sumitomo Corporation Group is working on environmental preservation through its business activities. Recognizing that environmental issues are long-term concerns that any person or organization should address. The Sumitomo Corporation Group companies promote environmental improvement activities as well as reducing the environmental burden accompanied by business activities Sumitomo Corporation is committed to the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council ) Certification program in all its forestry interests, Chile, Russia, South Africa and now New Zealand. Terneyles, a Russian forestry company of which Sumitomo Corporation own 45%, became the first company to receive FSC certification in Russia. When the company launched the project to acquire the certification, Russia didn t actually have an accreditation body anywhere in the country. Terneyles therefore started by calling on the provincial government to establish an inspection body for FSC accreditation.

2 The New Zealand Northland estate comprises of two Crown Forest Licences, Eight leases and a small amount of freehold forests spanning from Te Hapua in the North to Mitimiti in the South. The total forest estate comprises of some 32,120 hectares. Of this 84% of the estate is plantation forest, comprising mostly Pinus radiata, the balance being non-commercial indigenous species held as reserves and/or covenant areas. SNPs primary objective is the sustained management of the Pinus radiata forests to supply top quality logs to the domestic and international clearwood and structural markets. SNP has long term log supply agreement with Juken New Zealand to supply logs into its two Kaitaia mills for the manufacture of Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL); Laminated Lumber (LL); Plywood and Triboard. Commitment to FSC standards and ongoing improvement within the SNP framework clearly defines our long-term legal and environmental objectives within our forest operations. Social contribution activities are aimed at developing the next generation of human resources who will drive the sustainable development of society, and contributing to local communities in areas we do business all over the world. We will also take part in various activities as a good corporate citizen. A look into the Social contribution activity report shows examples of the level and types of contribution Sumitomo Corporation make globally The first year: The year has consisted of establishing the Auckland office and employing new staff members to the existing team here in Kaitaia. Changes to note have included tendering out the Aupouri harvest areas for the next 3 years of work (around Hukatere / Pukenui) with some new crews being fortunate to win those contracts and adapt new systems to the areas to be harvested. We have also committed to a postwood operation to feed the local mill Mt Pokaka in Kerikeri for the foreseeable future, targeting a planting regime specifically grown for this domestic market. The company currently has 12 harvesting crews working throughout the estate, with a view to expanding the estate and volumes being produced. During the first year of our operations, we have also established the company s own Export Department. The primary focus of the Export Department is to source volume from outside of our estate for sale into various Asian markets. However, the Export Department also provides an essential market (through Sumitomo s extensive network) for logs from the SNP estate which are not required by our domestic customers.

3 A Health, Safety and Environmental: The industry has been in the media a lot recently for poor health and safety statistics. Unfortunately there are a number of operators out there who are taking unnecessary risks. Our company sees the opportunity to showcase an industry that can work in a safe and enjoyable environment that will focus on the well - being of the people working in the estate and that they are going home to their families every night. The goal in 2014 is for SNP to review and improve company systems to achieve ACC accreditation for Health and Safety, ensure our suppliers meet a minimum of 90% for their system audit results and continue to maintain the Forest Stewardship Council Certification for environmental, social and economic performance. Recreation and Projects: Below is a table showing the trends for permit holders using the forest for 2013: The company has begun work on a new mountain bike track with the plan to extend this to create some fun areas to ride and potentially create a club or hub for one to develop in the area. Lake Gem Additional work is underway on the companies freehold land that contains a beautiful dune lake called Lake Gem the project has been underway for a few years and has included fencing out stock and planting native buffers - this lake is important to rare birds and also feeds the nearby Lake Ngatu.

4 The photos below show before and after the fencing/planting that has been completed.

5 The next stage for 2014 is underway for Lake Gem with clearing the last area of weeds and planting 2500 native trees (sponsored by the local regional council EnviroFund) this coming Arbour day in June. The plan is to develop a new walkway to be established through the land with the goal of linking the dune Sweetwater Lakes of the area with the help of the local Bushlands Trust and neighbouring properties. Arbour Day Planting, June 2014 The Future: The current Forest Management Plan is available on request this outlines the company policies and objectives and the forest resource description, monitoring and management plans. Kind Regards The Team at Summit Northern Plantation Ltd.