New Zealand - Timber Industry - A portion of seven million feet of timber blocked in the Awakino Creek, near Dargaville - 1914 - R. Tindall Photo The value of all forestry exports (logs, chips, sawn timber, panels and paper products) - $NZ 3.62 billion for the year ended 31 March 2006 - $NZ 5 billion in 2018 - Australia accounts for just over 25% of export value, mostly paper products, followed by Japan, South Korea, China and the United States. - In 2018, wood products were New Zealand's third-biggest export - Forestry accounted for approximately 3% of national GDP - Directly employing 20,000 people (Reference: Wikipedia) Background Notes: The New Zealand kauri Tree - It is the largest (by volume) but not tallest species of tree in New Zealand, standing up to 50 m tall in the emergent layer above the forest's main canopy. - The tree has smooth bark and small narrow leaves. Other common names to distinguish A. australis from other members of the genus are southern kauri and New Zealand kauri. - Kauri forests are among the most ancient in the world. The antecedents of the kauri appeared during the Jurassic period (between 190 and 135 million years ago). - Although the kauri is among the most ancient trees in the world, it has developed a unique niche in the forest. With its novel soil interaction and regeneration pattern it can compete with the more recently evolved and faster growing angiosperms. - Because it is such a conspicuous species, forest containing kauri is generally known as kauri forest, although kauri need not be the most abundant tree. In the warmer northern climate, kauri forests have a higher species richness than those found further south. (Reference; Wikipedia) -------------------- Image source: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19140618-49-4 http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&TN=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=2&RF=HIORecordSearch&MR=5&QI0=%3D%22AWNS-19140618-49-4%22