Located in the Bay of Plenty between Taupo and Rotorua, Kaingaroa Forest is the largest plantation forest in New Zealand and the second largest in the southern hemisphere.
It was planted during the 1920s and 1930s as part of a nationwide planting programme to provide timber for building and construction. The planting provided work for unemployed men and completely transformed the landscape from failed farmland to forest. Much of the area is now growing its third crop of trees, with some areas into their fourth!
Today, the forest is owned by Kaingaroa Timberlands and managed by Timberlands Limited which produces over 4.5 million cubic metres of logs each year. Over 65% of logs are sold to domestic processors and manufactured into housing lumber, posts and poles, speciality wood products and packaging products. Poorer quality logs are exported through the Port of Tauranga.
Watch these huge logging trucks bringing tree stems out of the Kaingaroa Forest.