The Government is making a start on a more sustainable forestry industry with investments into a bioenergy plant, research into biomass and better forestry practices, Forestry Minister Peeni Henare announced today. "The Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use recognised current forest harvest practices are not sustainable. In some parts of the country, like Tairwhiti, there is an urgent need to create a commercial use for harvest residues, such as forestry slash and other woody debris," Peeni Henare said. Alongside the $10 million to immediately clean up slash and debris in Tairwhiti and other weather-hit areas announced ahead of Budget 2023, the Government is investing a further $10.4 million into woody biomass research. "We want to look at how we can better manage slash through the forestry process and whether it can be used in bioenergy generation locally in Tairwhiti," Forestry Minister Peeni Henare said. "One of the aims of the research is to maximise the manage