Overseas investment decision for case 202100790 - Kauri Forestry LP

The Applicant, a repeat investor, has been granted consent to acquire the Land under the special test relating to forestry activities set out in section 16A(4) of the Act. 

The Applicant is a New Zealand limited partnership, established as part of the Craigmore Sustainables Group. It is also a forestry-specific investment vehicle and already holds a significant amount of land in New Zealand for forestry investment purposes. The investment will be managed by the New Zealand based management team.

The Land is currently used primarily as a beef farm. The Applicant intends to convert the Land to commercial forestry, establishing and maintaining plantation forest (predominantly Pinus radiata) over parts of the Land assessed as being best suited to forestry. The Applicant has estimated approximately 500 hectares of the Land is best suited to planting after allowing for infrastructure (3ha), native plantings (133ha), and unplantable land (26ha) or setbacks (42ha).

The Applicant also plans to subdivide and sell a portion of the land (approx. 5ha) containing dwellings that are not required for forestry activities.

Planting is intended to commence on the Land in 2022 and the trees will be harvested in approximately 25 to 30 years.

By way of background, the Land Use Class (LUC) details for the Land are: LUC Class 3 (approx. 19 hectares), LUC Class 4 (approx. 56 hectares), LUC Class 6 (approx. 576 hectares) and LUC Class 7 (approx. 64 hectares).