PCE addresses EDS Conference 2025

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment spoke to the Environmental Defence Society Conference on 13 May 2025 outlining key findings from his recent reports on rural land use change and forestry.

The first point he made which is obvious but worth stating, is that land use change is the norm in New Zealand. It is driven by both economic forces and policy settings and will in future also be driven by climatic changes. In recent years two key trends have emerged. Firstly, the move to dairy farming due to its relative profitability, and then more recently, the conversion of sheep and beef country to forestry