The New Zealand Forest Owners Association is backing a call to plant more than a million hectares of forest after new research showing the country is losing more trees than are being planted.
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The author of the Our Forest Future report, David Hall, said most of the loss was attributed to forestry plantations being harvested and not replanted.
He estimated 10,000 hectares of native and regenerating forest was lost between 1996 and 2014, and said a national forestry strategy was needed to offset agricultural emissions.
The head of the New Zealand Forest Owners Association, David Rhodes, said reduced numbers of plantations could have a dangerous effect on the industry.
"These are major investments we're talking about," Mr Rhodes said.
"If they can't get the wood some of these wood processing plants could be at risk, so a lot more thought needs to go into this and we certainly want to reverse what is going on."