Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry predictions show the amount of forest available for harvest on the South Island's West Coast will more than halve in the next seven years, but overall the South Island's wood availability will increase.
The figures come from MAF's West Coast Forest Industry and Wood Availability Forecast Report, which is the fourth and final regional wood availability forecast in a series produced for the South Island.
A Senior Analyst at MAF, John Novis, says the West Coast forecast reduces the amount of wood available for harvest between 2012 and 2015 from 380,000 cubic metres per year to about 196,000 cubic metres per year.
He says the principal reasons for the reduction are a revision of optimistic historic projections, and losses from strong winds and reduced growth rates.
