Forestry Minister David Carter has launched a strategy designed to boost wood processing in the Bay of Plenty region in the next decade.
During that time, the log harvest in that region and the central North Island is forecast to increase by up to 5 million cubic metres or more a year, but without more processing facilities the extra harvest will be exported as logs.
The strategy aims to add value to more than 70% of the logs harvested in the region by 2020.
