Scion report November 2015 - An update on Forestry Economics and Market Outlook to support landowner decision making on lower Nutrient leaching land use systems

Intensified use of pastoral land over the last 40 years has contributed to increasing concerns about the amount of nitrate entering the ground water of fresh water catchments. Regulatory schemes to mitigate these effects have been established in Lake Taupo and are now planned for Lake Rotorua catchment. Conversion to production forestry is one mitigation option that can help to reduce nitrate leaching but neither the costs nor the financial returns associated with forestry are well understood.