I recently appeared on Radio New Zealand’s The Panel to discuss the $291 million spent by bike tourists to New Zealand’s production forests in 2022, with host Wallace Chapman and special guests.
There are at least 96 production plantation forests with recreational mountain biking in New Zealand. Collectively these forests hosted about 335,000 visiting riders in 2022 to host regions, with 265,000 local residents near forests also biking in them.
The value of recreational access to forestry is often overlooked, with the focus tending to be on the export value of lumber from these forests. The challenge is how to balance the two.
My public research report focussed into the economic impact of biking in production forests on the national story, but my model can be used to perform economic impact assessments of recreational bike access across any individual plantation forest or region in New Zealand. Get in touch if you want to find out more.
