New Zealand Forest Owners Association
1. Business/Trading Name: The New Zealand Forest Owners Association Incorporated (often abbreviated as NZFOA).
2. Company Number: 217106.
3. NZBN (NZ Business Number): 9429042787419.
4. Entity Type: Incorporated Society (non-profit industry association).
5. Business Classification: Industry membership association representing commercial forestry (plantation forest owners). It operates as a trade association for the forestry sector, rather than as a trading company.
6. Industry Category: Forestry and Agriculture – specifically the plantation forestry (forest growing) industry. NZFOA is one of New Zealand’s primary sector organizations, focused on commercial forestry.
7. Year Founded: Originally established in 1926 (as the Dominion Forest Owners’ Association). The association waned mid-century and was reconstituted in September 1968 with a new set of rules in response to a forest disease outbreak. It has operated in its modern form since 1968.
8. Addresses:
• Registered Office: Level 9, 93 The Terrace, Wellington 6012, New Zealand. (This has been the registered address since Oct 2014.)
• Postal Address: PO Box 10986, Wellington 6143, New Zealand.
• Rotorua Office: 99 Sala Street, Rotorua 3040 (hosts R&D and innovation staff).
9. Website URL:
https://www.nzfoa.org.nz
10. LinkedIn URL: The NZFOA’s leadership and staff have LinkedIn profiles , but the organization itself does not.
11. Company Hub NZ URL: None. BizDB provides a public profile.
12. NZ Companies Office URL: https://app.businessregisters.govt.nz/sber-businesses/viewInstance/view.html?id=229a78e05307b6d8bf1b29667f00cb178e37be3ca4c4d86b&_timestamp=1704055872476529
13. Social Media URLs: NZFOA does not have very active standalone social media accounts. Its communications occur via its website and media releases. (There is no official Twitter or Facebook under the NZFOA name
14. Ultimate Holding Company: Not applicable. NZFOA is an incorporated society owned by its members (forestry companies and forest owners).
15. Key Shareholders: Not applicable in the conventional sense. As a non-profit association, NZFOA has no shareholders. Its “stakeholders” are its member companies. The members include most large New Zealand forest owners and forestry companies, which collectively own about 1.7–1.8 million hectares of plantations. (In effect, major forestry firms – e.g. Timberlands, Hancock Forest Management, Rayonier Matariki, Juken New Zealand, Ernslaw One, City Forests, etc. – are the key constituents of NZFOA.)
16. Leadership: NZFOA is governed by an Executive Council (elected by members) and led by a President and a Chief Executive. The current President (2024) is Matt Wakelin , and the Chief Executive Officer is Dr. Elizabeth (“Elly”) Heeg (appointed 2023). The President is an industry representative (the role rotates among senior executives of member companies), while the CEO leads day-to-day operations.
Grant Dodson, City Forests
Bert Hughes, Forest Enterprises
Darren Mann, Ernslaw One
Sean McBride, Juken New Zealand
Marcus Musson, Forest 360
Kate Rankin, Wenita Forest Products
Tim Sandall, Pan Pac Forest Products
Jason Syme, Rayonier Matariki
Phil Taylor, Port Blakely
“By Appointment”: (i.e. appointed members)
Dean Witehira, Timberlands (Vice President)
Chris Barnes, Manulife Investment Management
17. Staff: NZFOA has a modest professional staff based in Wellington and Rotorua. Key staff roles (Wellington office) include a Chief Operating Officer (COO) – Joseph Brolly, Communications Manager – Emily Pope, Senior Communications Adviser – Sarah Walker, Biosecurity Manager – Brendan Gould, Environment Manager – Rachel Millar. In the Rotorua office (focused on research liaison), staff include an R&D Manager – Paul Adams, Innovation Manager – Alison Slade
17.a Staff with Previous Government Roles: CEO Elizabeth Heeg previously held director-level roles at the Department of Conservation and Ministry for Primary Industries.
18. Past Employees of note: Past presidents have included industry figures like Phil Taylor (Port Blakely), Peter Weir (Ernslaw One), and Grant Dodson (City Forests). Long-serving past CEO David Rhodes led NZFOA from 2005–2023 and was a prominent public voice for the industry. Ken Shirley (Chief Executive 1991–97), a former politician who led the association during the 1990s deregulation era; and Rob McLagan (Chief Executive 1997–2005), who had earlier headed Federated Farmers. Past Presidents such as Peter Berg (1999–2011) and others also shaped NZFOA’s direction (though as elected industry representatives rather than employees).
19. Clients: Not applicable in a commercial client sense. NZFOA’s “clients” are essentially its member forest owners. It exists to serve the interests of members who pay fees (based on forest area). The membership spans large-scale forest-owning companies and some smaller growers – together representing roughly two-thirds of New Zealand’s plantation forests. In effect, NZFOA represents those members’ interests to government and the public.
• 19.a Industries/Sectors Represented: NZFOA represents the commercial plantation forestry sector – i.e. growers/owners of plantation forests primarily in radiata pine (and some other species). Its advocacy touches the broader forestry value-chain (from planting and silviculture to timber harvest and export) but the core constituency is forest growers. NZFOA often collaborates with the wood processing sector via umbrella bodies (see Affiliations), but wood processors have separate associations. In summary, NZFOA speaks for the forest growing industry within New Zealand’s primary industries.
20. Publicly Disclosed Engagements: NZFOA’s interactions with government are on record in various forms. The association frequently makes submissions to Parliament and ministries on policy proposals (e.g. on climate change policy, environmental regulations, biosecurity, etc.), which are public documents. It also provides a formal “Briefing to Incoming Ministers” after elections , outlining its policy priorities. Ministerial diary releases reveal direct meetings: for example, in April 2022 Forestry Minister Stuart Nash had a scheduled video conference with NZFOA representatives , and in May 2022 he attended an NZFOA Executive Board meeting via video link. Such engagements are proactively disclosed by the government. NZFOA also jointly publishes an annual statistical report (“Facts & Figures”) with MPI , indicating a degree of open collaboration.
21. Affiliations: NZFOA maintains close affiliations with related industry bodies. It works in tandem with the NZ Farm Forestry Association (NZFFA) – the group for small-scale forest owners – often coordinating on industry issues. (NZFOA and NZFFA share a Forest Growers Levy system and joint committees.) NZFOA is a member of the Wood Council of NZ (Woodco) , which unites forestry growers and wood processors for sector-wide strategy. It was instrumental in establishing the Forest Growers Levy Trust (FGLT) , which collects a compulsory levy to fund industry-good projects. NZFOA is also a key supporter of the Forest Industry Safety Council (FISC), an industry-wide safety body funded by the levy. Internationally, NZFOA engages with bodies like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and advocates alongside global forest industry groups (e.g. it has links via the Forest Stewardship Council standards process and attends international forestry conferences). Domestically, it partners with MPI in the Government-Industry Agreement (GIA) on biosecurity – NZFOA is a signatory representing forestry’s biosecurity interests (holding a stake in the joint GIA entity).[1]
22. Sponsorships/Collaborations: NZFOA collaborates on many sector initiatives. It co-sponsors the publication of the annual “New Zealand Plantation Forest Industry Facts & Figures” booklet with the Ministry for Primary Industries , providing valuable data for stakeholders. Through Woodco, NZFOA helped fund the “NZ Wood” campaign to promote wood products and sustainable forestry. The association supports research collaborations via Forest Growers Research Ltd and other levy-funded R&D programs, often in partnership with Crown Research Institute Scion and universities. (For example, NZFOA has contracted with Scion for research services, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in project funding flowing through NZFOA to research providers.) NZFOA also sponsors or hosts industry events such as conferences (see Events) and has partnered with government on schemes like the High Viz forestry safety training program.
23. Events: NZFOA organizes and participates in various industry events. It holds an Annual General Meeting and periodic member conferences. Notably, NZFOA has jointly hosted the ForestWood Conference, a pan-industry conference, together with other forestry and wood-processing associations (e.g. in 2010 and 2012). These national conferences bring together industry leaders, politicians, and stakeholders to discuss sector strategy. NZFOA also runs or supports annual forestry awards – for instance, it has an Awards program recognizing excellence in forest management (often presented at its conferences or AGM). In addition, NZFOA representatives speak regularly at forestry field days, Wood Council forums, and stakeholder workshops. The association’s calendar includes quarterly Executive Council meetings (open to members) and involvement in events like the Forestry Science Conference or Fieldays (agricultural show) when forestry topics are featured.
24. Political Donations: No record. It is worth noting that individual member companies or their executives may donate to political parties, but there is no record of NZFOA itself making political donations to parties or candidates in New Zealand’s electoral disclosures. As a membership-funded lobby group, NZFOA’s influence is exerted via advocacy rather than direct funding of politicians.
25. Controversies: NZFOA has faced public controversy largely around environmental and policy issues. In 2023 it drew criticism in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle for the problem of “forestry slash” (debris from logging) devastating communities. A government inquiry’s report was “damning,” and NZFOA’s then-President Grant Dodson pushed back that the report was “too hasty”, defending the industry’s practices. This stance was criticized by environmental and community groups who felt NZFOA was downplaying forestry’s impacts. Another controversy is NZFOA’s strong promotion of exotic pine plantations for carbon credits under the Emissions Trading Scheme – a position at odds with some farmers and environmentalists. NZFOA has been accused of short-sightedness by farming lobbyists for encouraging farmland conversion to pine forests, while NZFOA’s CEO argues that restricting commercial forestry would harm climate targets and the economy. There is also perennial tension between NZFOA and environmental NGOs over regulations: NZFOA successfully lobbied for favorable nationwide forestry rules (the NES-PF), which some conservationists say limits local authorities’ ability to protect the environment.
26. Other Information of Note:
The association is funded by member dues – currently set at $0.20 per hectare of forest owned (with a minimum $200) – giving it an annual budget in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (augmented by project grants). NZFOA’s influence also comes from the Forest Growers Levy, a commodity levy (~$10 million/year) that the association helps steer via the Levy Trust.
NZFOA regularly produces a “Briefing to Incoming Ministers” (BIM) after elections , a document that is closely read for insight into the forestry sector’s wish-list. In the media, NZFOA figures (like the President or CEO) are often the go-to commentators on forestry matters, underscoring the association’s role as the voice of the forestry industry in New Zealand.
[1]https://www.companyhub.nz/companyDetails.cfm?nzbn=9429046218445#:~:text=Hub%20www,%281%20shares
[2] https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018890107/forest-slash-report-too-hasty-forest-owners-association
[3] https://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/32246-millions-more-trees-isn-t-the-climate-fix-new-zealand-thought#:~:text=Forest%20owners%2C%20for%20their%20part%2C,contributor%20to%20the%20country’s%20GDP
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