New Zealand Environmental Code of Practice for Plantation Forestry
Part 1 BEST ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Overview
Environmental Practices (beps) are primarily intended for use by those directly involved in undertaking or managing forestry operations. They have been developed for all key forest operations, such as harvesting and establishment, recognising that their implementation should not put the health and safety of operators and workers at risk. The relevant legal and practical requirements of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (and its amendments) should take precedence.
As with safety, compliance with any environmental legal conditions is a necessity and is a key objective of any operation. Use of the beps does not replace or abdicate any responsibility for ensuring compliance but will help to ensure that an operation complies with any associated environmental legal requirements. Such legal requirements include Resource Consents, Historic Places Authorities and standards/conditions for Permitted Activities under a Regional or District Plan (refer to Part 4 of the full E-CoP). The beps have also been designed to incorporate the requirements of voluntary industry agreements like the New Zealand Forest Accord.
Relationship of beps to the management environment
The beps should not be used in isolation. In some cases, a number of different beps may be applied to a particular operation. Some beps will also refer to parts of more technical guides such as the fitec Best Practice Guides, or other documentation where appropriate.
This wider relationship is detailed in the section on use of the Environmental Code of Practice.
Using beps
The BEPs applicable to a particular operation may be selected from the Operations Based Table below.
Each bep is split into 2 sections, Rules and Guidelines. Rules are compulsory and must be met. Guidelines list additional considerations to be acted upon where safe and practical to do so. Each bep is followed by guidance notes that provide basic background information relating to the particular bep.
1 Operational planning - BEP
| Applies to the development of forest operational plans. This BEP cover all forest operations including plans for the forest establishment, silviculture, forest health, earthworks and logging. | |
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• To scope, identify and evaluate all relevant issues and associated environmental and compliance risks. • To prescribe methods and techniques that accomplish full legal compliance and an effective balance of economic, safety and environmental performance outcomes. |
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| Rules (Compulsory) |
General Rules • Develop a robust planning process to ensure planning completeness and consistency. • Plan forestry operations to avoid remedy or mitigate adverse environmental effects. • Comply with applicable Council requirements, Resource Consent conditions, Historic Places Trust Authority and any other legal requirements. • Review the effectiveness of plans and the planning process and incorporate relevant changes or improvements e.g. updated Council standards or Resource Consents conditions. • Ensure the planning process is flexible enough to address possible plan changes e.g. changes in available harvesting equipment can affect harvest boundaries. |
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Planning Process • Scope the intended operation by identifying and reviewing relevant information. • Identify important environmental values for each site. • Consider plan alternatives and assess the potential impact of the proposed operations upon the identified values (An Assessment of Environmental Effects). • Consult with potentially adversely affected parties. • Select the best alternative. Tradeoffs between competing factors is inevitable e.g. the balance between safety and health, productivity and quality, environmental and social factors. • Select cost effective, low environmental impact operational techniques. • Finalise the plan and document operational specifications e.g. prescribe and document methods, techniques and constraints required to manage the impacts of the operation upon the identified values. |
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The Plan • Develop operational maps and plan notes that clearly incorporate the identified environmental issues and specified controls. • Ensure the plan is clearly understood, agreed and signed off by operational personnel. |
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| Guidelines (Where safe and applicable) |
General
• Consider cumulative effects of plans e.g. the altered hydrological response to storms of a river where the catchment has been subject to consecutive harvesting operations over a large proportion of its area. • Define and document restricted areas where activities must be excluded or subject to tight controls • Use planning as a tool to improve environmental management. • Consider the strategic implications of an operation e.g. planting boundaries should make acceptable harvesting boundaries. |
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Community
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Visual Landscape • Consider incorporating landscape planning principles when planning in visually sensitive areas including:
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Monitor
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| Related BEPs |
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1.1 Guidance notes - Operational planning - BEP
INTRODUCTION
An important aspect of robust operational planning
Undertaking an assessment of environmental effects
The process of assessing risk due to operations is known as an
Some operational situations will have minimal risk while others may have significant and complex risks. Operational planning requires technical input and a solid understanding of the operational requirements. The necessary skills are normally gained through tertiary level qualifications additional to operational experience.
2 Earthworks - BEP
| Applies to forestry earthworks. this includes the construction and maintenance of roads, waterway crossings, processing areas, landings, tracks, firebreaks, dams and water control structures, quarries, metal stockpiles and other engineering works. | |||||||
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• Compliance with the law. • To avoid, remedy or mitigate the adverse or potentially adverse effects upon on-site and off-site environmental values. e.g.:
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| Rules (Compulsory) |
General Rules • Earthworks must be planned, designed, supervised and constructed by appropriately trained personnel. • Comply with applicable Council requirements, Resource Consent conditions, Historic Places Trust Authority and any other legal requirements, including mining regulations for quarries and the Building Code for structures. • Ensure important environmental values and restricted areas have been identified and clearly mapped or documented before an operation starts e.g. protected vegetation areas, public recreation areas, neighbouring properties and water bodies. • Consult with parties who are likely to be directly adversely impacted by operations - observe any established protocols. • Design all earthworks appropriate to the soil type, topography, climatic conditions and anticipated traffic usage. • Employ engineering expertise, to design or project manage, when prudent to do so e.g. large earthworks projects, quarries or operations in high-risk areas. |
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Operational • Communicate operational requirements verbally and in writing before an operation starts to ensure personnel are aware of their environmental obligations. • Comply with operational specifications. • Make every reasonable effort to avoid damage to restricted areas e.g. native vegetation, protected riparian strips, historic and heritage sites, research areas. • Do not damage, modify or destroy archaeological sites without approval. • Place debris where it will not affect sensitive features, zones or destabilise the site. • Keep machinery out of waterways and riparian margins unless authorised. • No earthworks within 5m of permanent waterways except at designated crossings or water access points or where topographical constraints leave no alternative.
• Do not incorporate slash or other organic material into steep fill batters. • Install correctly designed waterway crossing structures, sediment traps and cut-off spacing according to local soil, rainfall and topographic conditions as work progresses. • Remove all rubbish from the forest and dispose in a legally and environmentally acceptable way. • Monitor the effects of the activity during an operation, on completion, and where necessary on a routine basis thereafter to ensure operational and compliance specifications have been met. • Wash machinery where weed transfer is an identified risk. |
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| Guidelines (Where safe and applicable) |
• Programme earthworks to enable best use of seasonal conditions and allow (Where safe stabilisation before use. & applicable) • Undertake work in suitable weather for the site conditions. • Locate earthworks to avoid sensitive features, unnecessary disturbance and to minimise exposure to unstable areas. • Consider enlarged riparian areas where appropriate. • Consider alternative construction or screening methods to mitigate impact in visually sensitive areas. • Apply surfacing materials where appropriate, to new formations as soon as practicable. • Use water control techniques including
• Place topsoil where it is stable and recoverable for reuse where required. • Instigate maintenance programmes appropriate to the nature of the earthworks and structures and their environmental risk. |
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| Related BEPs |
1. Operational planning
2. Waterway crossings 3. Harvesting 4. Fuel and oil 5. Waste management 6. Historical & heritage management 7. Operational monitoring 8. Environmental incident 9. Historical & heritage site discovery |
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| Key associated reference |
Best Practice
Guidelines for Road and Landing Construction - FITEC 2005
reference
Forest Roading Manual - LIRA Relevant Regulatory Authority Guidelines |
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2.1 Guidance notes - Earthworks - BEP
INTRODUCTION
Apart from the tree crop, roading infrastructure is the most important physical asset
The planning, construction and maintenance stages of earthworks are equally important. In regard to the protection of environmental values, the key factors that must always be considered when carrying out earthworks are:
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Location
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Timing
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Stabilisation
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Appropriate erosion and sediment controls
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Maintenance
Earthworks operations can produce two main adverse effects:
1. Accelerated erosion arising from increased soil exposure and instability e.g. collapse of slopes around cuts.
2. Excessive sediment discharge to waterways though erosion of water control structures, fill-slope failure and soil disturbance.
Earthworks can activate or accelerate erosion by disturbing high risk areas, e.g. the toe of an earth flow, gully heads or old landslide scarps (slips), or by concentrating surface flows into those areas.
Sediment discharges to a water body can affect water quality and subsequently impact on spawning fish, aquatic life, in-stream structures and downstream values such as recreation and customary food gathering. In addition to effects on water resources, excessive sediment discharges and earth flows can have an impact on land e.g. native reserves and neighbouring properties. These effects can be minimised by keeping earthworks away from restricted areas and riparian areas. Where appropriate riparian setback widths could be increased to provide more buffering to protect stream values.
Earthworks could damage sensitive features such as archaeological sites, public utilities, and protected vegetation. Other potential harmful effects include unnecessary soil displacement and unacceptable visual impacts. The visual impacts of poorly planned earthworks can give the public a poor impression of forest operations.
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Note:
Forestry companies which have an
Environmental Management
System in place are likely to have a procedure to manage engineering operations. Whilst it is likely to be similar to the above, there may be differences. Where a company procedure exists, it should be followed. 3 Harvesting
- BEP
• Compliance with the law.
• To avoid, remedy or mitigate the adverse or potentially adverse effects upon on-site and off-site environmental values. e.g.:
• Harvesting must be planned, supervised and
undertaken by appropriately trained personnel.
• Comply with applicable
Council requirements, Resource
Consent conditions,
Historic Places
Trust Authority and any other legal requirements.
• Ensure important environmental values and restricted areas have been identified and clearly mapped or documented before an operation starts e.g. protected vegetation areas, public recreation areas, neighbouring properties and water bodies.
• Consult with parties who are likely to be directly adversely impacted by operations - observe any established protocols.
• Communicate operational requirements verbally and in writing, before an operation starts, to ensure personnel are aware of their environmental obligations.
• Comply with operational specifications.
• Do not destroy, damage or modify archaeological sites without approval.
• Make every reasonable effort to avoid damage to restricted areas e.g. native vegetation, protected riparian strips, historic and heritage sites, research areas.
• Do not use waterways as extraction corridors or routes.
• Install appropriate water and sediment controls and prevent runoff flowing directly into waterways. Appropriate water control can be achieved through:
Water bars & cut-offs
Sediment traps
Slash redistribution
Track and soft point corduroying.
• Maintain water and sediment control structures in effective operating condition until site
is decommissioned.
• Keep machinery out of water bodies and riparian margins, unless authorised.
Leaving trees standing
Fell to waste
• Use appropriate options to minimise tracking to reduce soil disturbance, compaction and erosion.
• Monitor the effects of the activity during an operation, on completion, and where necessary on a routine basis thereafter to ensure operational or compliance specifications have been met.
• Close or control operational areas to prevent inadvertent unauthorised access.
• Wash machinery where weed transfer is an identified risk.
Post harvest decommissioning
• Decommission the site to appropriate standard.
• Ensure water and sediment controls are in place and maintained in effective operating condition until site is revegetated, rehabilitated or otherwise stable.
• Haul tracks are properly decommissioned.
• Slash and 'birds
nests' stabilised.
• Remove all rubbish from site and dispose in a safe and legally acceptable way.
• Avoid deviations to prepared harvest plans
without approval where relevant e.g. from an operational
supervisor.
• Undertake work in suitable weather for the site conditions.
• Avoid damage to standing crop during production thinning operations.
Increase tower height of haulers to gain greater
lift and suspension of logs.
Employ mechanical carriages capable of fully
suspending logs above sensitive areas such as waterways.
Swing yarders that can operate in confined areas decreasing the requirements for large landings, or enabling roadside landings.
Ground based systems suited to soil type e.g. tracked skidders or excavators with low ground pressure for easily compacted soils such as clays.
• Aim for extraction using techniques that achieve suspension of the butt end of the log.
• Follow landscape mitigation principles, where documented as part of operational plan (refer to Operational
planning - BEP).
• Consider the benefits of wider riparian setbacks.
• Avoid trimming stems in water channels or flood ways or riparian areas.
• Consider use of debris traps where in-stream slash removal is unachievable.
• Instigate monitoring and maintenance programmes
appropriate to the nature of the logging and its environmental risk.
• Consider the community.
• Schedule trucking to minimise early morning trips through local communities.
• Avoid school bus routes prior to 9.00am and after 3.00pm on difficult and narrow rural roads, install radio communications with bus or instigate other safety management strategies.
• Consider sealing or lime cement stabilisation where prolonged heavy usage is anticipated.
• Consider road surface damping or enforce reduced speed to manage dust on short term operations past dwellings.
• Notify local authority of road upgrade requirements well in advance of need.
• Consider using central tyre inflation to reduce impact upon roads.
• Install appropriate warning signage along trucking routes.
• Ensure trucking activity
is monitored for safety, load security, deposition of extraneous material on public roads and that any public complaints are relayed on to cartage managers.
Harvesting includes clear felling, road line
salvage & production thinning operations. It applies to
the feeling, extraction, processing of the trees into
products, stockpiling, loading and product cartage.
Processing may occur on- or off-site.
Objective
Water Quality
Soil stability or loss
Ecological
Archaeological and cultural
Landscape
Community
Rules (Compulsory)
Operational
Guidelines (Where safe & applicable)
Cartage
Related BEPs
4. Slash management 5. Fuel and oil 6.
Waste management 7. Historical & heritage
management 8. Historical & heritage site discovery
9. Operational monitoring 10.
Environmental incident
Key associated reference
Harvesting is the end-point of a plantation forest cycle and comprises logging, felling, trimming, extraction, sorting, stacking and log transportation.
Harvesting conforms to two broad types:
1. Clear felling.
2. Production thinning.
Clearfell operations are increasingly moving into hill country that sometimes presents steep, more difficult terrain
with numerous challenges and, typically, increased environmental risk. The majority of these areas will be harvested using cable hauler systems. Production thinning is carried out within stands mid-way through their rotation, depending on economics. In most cases production thinning is on easy slopes and utilises ground-based systems where any associated environmental effects are generally minor.
Potential adverse effects
A poorly planned or executed operation can have unnecessary and extensive environmental impacts. There is the potential for: • Sediment discharges to water bodies •
Effects on off-site values e.g. aquatic ecosystems and neighbouring properties •
Activation or acceleration of erosion by physical
disturbance or water flow runoff
• Damage to archaeological sites, public utilities, and native reserves.
Other potentially harmful effects include:
• Soil compaction and soil
displacement • In publicly visible areas a harvesting operation can be visually intrusive
• Increasing risk of
spills and soil & water contamination when relatively
large volumes of fuels and oils are stored on site during engineering
and harvesting.
However, a well-managed harvesting operation giving appropriate attention to the protection of identified restricted areas, riparian areas and riparian widths and other aspects (refer to
Part 2 of the full E-CoP) will minimise adverse effects upon the environment.
Forestry companies which have an
Environmental Management
System
in place are likely to have a procedure to manage harvesting
operations. Whilst it is likely to be similar to the
above, there may be differences. Where a company procedure
exists, it should be followed. 4 Slash management - BEP
• Comply with applicable Council requirements, Resource
Consent conditions, Historic Places Trust Authority and any other
legal requirements.
• Ensure slash management requirements have been identified and clearly mapped or documented before the operations starts e.g. slash storage sites.
• If there is insufficient space for on-site slash disposal, plan for temporary slash storage that will allow slash to be accumulated and then taken off site, e.g. transported to another landing site.
• Communicate operational requirements verbally and in writing before an operation starts to ensure personnel are aware of their obligations e.g. location and requirements for the designated slash disposal areas.
• Comply with operational specifications.
• Maintain water and sediment control structures in effective operating condition until decommissioned to prevent water building up in slash piles and adjoining landing, leading to operational difficulties and possible landing collapse.
• Monitor slash piles to ensure that they are always stable and fully utilise the available space. This may require benching, and/or shifting and reworking of the piles.
• If available slash storage space is likely to be exceeded, then identify an alternative disposal site.
• Make every reasonable effort to avoid damage to restricted areas e.g. native vegetation, protected riparian strips, historic and heritage sites, research areas.
• Instigate monitoring and maintenance programmes appropriate to the nature of the earthworks and structures and their environmental risk.
• Plan the operation/layout of the
landing/processing area to ensure that there is unrestricted
access to the slash disposal sites.
The blocking or damming of stream flow.
The diversion of flow into stream banks
likely to cause erosion.
A risk to downstream structures and neighbouring property e.g. culverts and bridges.
• Consider the use of debris traps at strategic locations downstream where slash removal is not possible. These structures will generally require expert consultation and a resource consent.
Slash
and wood debris is generated from harvesting operations. It
comprises of off-cuts from log making and debris from felling and
extraction to the landing.
Objective
BEP
Rules (Compulsory)
General rules
Operational
Guidelines (Where safe &
applicable)
Slash and
debris in streams