The Māori Advisory Committee to the Northland Regional Council is calling for the laws around the extraction of swamp kauri to be tightened.
Dover Samuels Photo: Parliament
Chairperson Dover Samuels said the council had fielded calls from the public wanting better controls on it being milled and exported.
Northland environmental groups have complained that the Ministry for Primary Industries was allowing exporters to illegally export the valuable timber.
Mr Samuels said while the Northland Regional Council had control over the wetlands, that was not the case for the swamp kauri in it.
He said it was up to MPI and central government to create regulations that recognised the concerns of the whole community.
In a statement, a MPI spokesperson said: "As previously reported, the Ministry for Primary Industries will be providing advice to the Minister for Primary Industries on whether there are improvements that could be made to the control of the milling and export of swamp kauri under the Forests Act.
"In terms of the management of the extraction of swamp kauri, that is a matter managed under the Resource Management Act by the relevant Northland councils."
The extraction of ancient kauri. Photo: Ancientwood