Woodhill Forest

Te Ngahere o Woodhill (Woodhill Forest) is a commercial exotic (pine) Forest located to the North West of Auckland, in New Zealand. The forest covers approx 12,500 hectares of land from Muriwai in the South to South Head in the North. The forest is a popular location for a number of recreation activities, including horse riding, 4WD and trail biking, mountain biking, walking, dog walking, tree climbing adventures (confidence and team building), orienteering and filming. Woodhill Forest is a sand based pine forest, providing all weather trails and recreation.

History

Originally the coastal land was covered in native vegetation, but the arrival of British and their farm animals led to severe erosion. In the 1870s Sheep and Cattle grazing had already begun to cause problems in many coastal areas. By 1873 James Stewart reported fully grown trees buried by dunes and in the Kaipara dunes of 90 metres tall.^[1] Just a few years damage could transform an area from bush to desert.

The first NZ Forest Act of 1874^[2] was largely in response to concern about the increase in coastal dune invasions.^[3] However, little was actually done. In 1880 the area of coastal drifting sands was 46,000 hectares, by 1909 it had grown to 120,000 hectares.

In 1903 the Sand Drift Act was introduced,^[4] but it wasn't until 1913 that the Public Works Dept made its first efforts in sand stabilisation. By 1924 only 65 hectares of marram had been planted at Woodhill. With the problem increasing each year, the great depression came to the rescue of the New Zealand coastline and lands. The Public Works Dept administered the unemployment relief fund, with 80,000 registered unemployed at their disposal they set them to work on sand stabilisation projects around the country.

In 1932 planting of marram grasses began in earnest, with lupins and eventually pine seedlings following. In Woodhill there were 4 camps of 20-30 men per camp working all year around, with supplies being brought in from neighbouring farms and plants supplied from a Nursery also in what was then a barren wasteland of sand dunes. The real pioneer was A.A.Restall, the highly successful Forest Manager at Woodhill, who introduced machinery and processes that lifted the amount of planting to levels that turned the tide of sand encroachment at Woodhill. Restall's created best practice for other sand reclamation projects around New Zealand, and around the world.^[5]

In the 1980s Woodhill Forest was part of the asset sales program, and became a Licensed Crown Forest (see below for explanation).

In 2014 the Treaty of Waitangi claim by Ngati Whatua o Kaipara^[6] was finally settled. The treaty settlement has enabled Ngati Whatua o Kaipara the opportunity to purchase Woodhill Forest from the Crown. Ngati Whatua now manage recreational areas and other activities in Woodhill Forest. Hancock Forest Management retain a licence for tree felling for the next 35 years under the Crown Forest Licence conditions (a gradual return to Ngati Whatua as felling occurs).

Crown Forests

In the 1980s the NZ Forest Service was disbanded, and the New Zealand Government began selling Forest assets.^[7]

In order to offset against future Waitangi Tribunal Claims the Crown (public/government) retained ownership of the land, and sold a licence to fell the trees to a commercially operated forestry company.^[8] These forestry companies operated under what is known as Crown Forest Licences. The license for Woodhill Forest was (NA100A/7)

Anyone can obtain a copy of a Crown Forest Licence from LINZ (Land Information New Zealand). On each license Section 6, sets out the conditions for Public Entry. It is a commonly held belief in New Zealand, that all Crown Forests are open to the public for any recreation. However, the Crown Forest Licences usually only provide for public access for walkers. Recreational access may be provided for through Section 7, Public Access Easements or Appendices which set out "Continuing Recreational Use" for organisations (clubs) within the control of the Licensee (and with the ability for the licensee to charge for use).^[9]

Recreation organisations

Ngati Whatua o Kaipara manage all uses and recreation within Woodhill Forest since 2014, permitted recreation organisations:

• "Te Ngahere o Woodhill Eke Hoiho" All Horse Riders must be registered with Eke Hoiho.
• "Tree Adventures" Adventure Tree Climbing park
• "The Sandpit" Trailbike park, trailbikes are not permitted elsewhere in the forest
• "4WD Park" 4WD's are not permitted elsewhere in the forest
• Woodhill Mountain Bike Park

References