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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1947 |
| Preceding agency |
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| Headquarters | 49 Sala Street, Rotorua, New Zealand |
| Employees | 330 [1] |
| Agency executives |
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| Website | www |
Scion, officially registered as New Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited, [1] is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute with its primary areas of research, science and technology development being in the areas of forestry, wood products, wood-derived materials and other biomaterials sectors.
The organisation was established in April 1947 as part of the New Zealand Forest Service, originally named the Forest Experiment Station. [3] [4] Its early research included work on timber drying, preservation and fibre production that remains relevant in the 21st century. [4]
In the 1960s the organisation undertook intensive forest pathology research following the spread of red band needle blight among New Zealand pine trees. [5] It undertook research in the 1970s into growing trees as crops, including improving techniques for mass production of seedlings and trials of growing trees on fertile farmland. [6]
In 1987 the organisation became part of the new Ministry of Forestry. It became a Crown Research Institute in its own right in 1992 under the name New Zealand Forest Research Institute. [3]
In 2000, following increased interest globally in sustainable energy and the environment, the organisation extended its focus to include the development of renewable chemicals, materials and energy from forestry resources. [7]
In 2005 the new trading name Scion was launched. [3] Part of the rationale for the change of name was the extension of the organisation's research areas to include the development of biomaterials. [3] The name Scion is a metaphor, which according to the organisation's website, means that "All parts of the Scion organisation share the same DNA, or the forestry legacy, that was established as part of the original Forest Research Institute." [8]
In 2015 the Government announced it would invest $5 million in funding over seven years for a research partnership between Scion, industry body Future Forests Research, the University of Canterbury and the New Zealand Dryland Forests Initiative. [9] The partnership would focus on developing more economic wood products from several tree species. [9]
In 2022 Scion celebrated its 75th anniversary with a photography exhibition at its Rotorua office, which ran until April 2023. [10]
In 2023 Scion collaborated with iwi-based organisation Rotoiti 15 to work with rangatahi (young people) on protecting native species of trees from myrtle rust, [11] and with Lincoln University scientists on the ability of forest floor microbes to absorb agriculture-produced methane. [12] Scion also hosted a Symposium on the Transition to a Circular Bioeconomy in Wellington in February 2023. [10]
In 2023 it was announced that Scion would be hosting the International Union of Forest Research Organizations conference in Rotorua in March 2024. [13] The conference will be focused on the use of vegetative propagation technologies in forestry, which is an area of Scion's research. [13]
Scion carries out research into forestry and related sectors including biomaterials, bioenergy, waste and ecosystem services, and its research has contributed to the growth of New Zealand's forestry sector. [7] Its research into forest inventory methods over many years are used by commercial forestry companies. [14]
In 2017 Scion's chief executive Julian Elder noted that the organisation's work now included genetics research and biomaterials research, reflecting the increased and changing uses of forestry products since the organisation was founded. [4] Work since the 2010s has included research into the impacts of climate change on forests, [7] research into the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for forestry mapping, [15] and research on converting waste pulp into carbon nanofibre. [16]
Scion also carries out research into diseases impacting on the forestry sector. New Zealand's pine forests have been experiencing outbreaks of red needle cast since 2008, and Scion has undertaken research into the influence of temperature and moisture on the disease. Since 2017 it has also collaborated with Manulife Forest Management on trials of copper as a treatment. [17]
As of 2023 [update] Scion employs approximately 300 full-time equivalent staff at its main office in Rotorua, Te Whare Nui o Tuteata, [1] which was opened by then prime minister Jacinda Ardern in 2021. [18] Scion is one of the largest employers in Rotorua. [4] The office is sited at Te Papa Tipu Innovation Park, and Scion has entered into a memorandum of understanding with local tangata whenua Ngā Hapū e Toru. [19] It also has an office on the campus of the University of Canterbury in Christchurch with close to 30 staff, as well as a smaller office in Wellington. [1]
Māori culture is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Eastern Polynesian culture. Māori culture forms a distinctive part of New Zealand culture and, due to a large diaspora and the incorporation of Māori motifs into popular culture, it is found throughout the world. Within Māoridom, and to a lesser extent throughout New Zealand as a whole, the word Māoritanga is often used as an approximate synonym for Māori culture, the Māori-language suffix -tanga being roughly equivalent to the qualitative noun-ending -ness in English. Māoritanga has also been translated as "[a] Māori way of life." The term kaupapa, meaning the guiding beliefs and principles which act as a base or foundation for behaviour, is also widely used to refer to Māori cultural values.
Rotorua is a city in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompassing Rotorua and several other nearby towns. Rotorua has an estimated resident population of 58,900, making it the country's 12th largest urban area, and the Bay of Plenty's second-largest urban area behind Tauranga.
Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service is the agency within the Ministry for Primary Industries that is responsible for the New Zealand forestry sector. It is headquartered in Rotorua.
Whakatāne is a town located in the Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand, 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of Tauranga and 89 kilometres (55 mi) northeast of Rotorua. The town is situated at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. The Whakatāne District is the territorial authority that encompasses the town, covering an area to the south and west of the town, excluding the enclave of Kawerau District.
Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kūiti and 55 km west of Turangi. It is under the jurisdiction of Ruapehu District and Manawatū-Whanganui region.
Ōtorohanga is a north King Country town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 53 kilometres (33 mi) south of Hamilton and 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of Te Kūiti, on the Waipā River. It is a service town for the surrounding dairy-farming district. It is recognised as the "gateway" to the Waitomo Caves and as the "Kiwiana Town" of New Zealand. Until 2007, Ōtorohanga held a yearly 'Kiwiana Festival.'
Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi (tribe) based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to people who arrived in New Zealand on the waka (canoe) Tainui. The 2018 New Zealand census reports show an estimated population of 45,930 people who affiliated with Maniapoto, making it the 9th biggest iwi in New Zealand.
Murupara is a town in the Whakatāne District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is in an isolated part of the region between the Kaingaroa Forest and Te Urewera protected area, on the banks of the Rangitaiki River, 65 kilometres southeast of Rotorua. Indigenous Māori also make up over 90% of the population.
Ngongotahā is a small settlement on the western shores of Lake Rotorua in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of the Rotorua central business district, and is part of the functional urban area. Ngongotahā is considered as a suburb of Rotorua, and has a population of 5,230 as of June 2023.
Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of 10,350. It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was established in 1866, and the town of Hāwera grew up around a blockhouse in the early 1870s.
Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapū of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (waka). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty areas and have a population of around 60,117 according to the 2018 census making it the 6th biggest iwi in New Zealand. The Te Arawa iwi also comprises 56 hapū (sub-tribes) and 31 mārae.
Ahipara is a town and locality in Northland, New Zealand at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach, with the Tauroa Peninsula to the west and Herekino Forest to the east. Ahipara Bay is to the north west. Kaitaia is 14 km to the north east, and Pukepoto is between the two.
Ngāti Rangitihi is a Māori iwi of New Zealand, located in the Bay of Plenty.
Ngāti Whare is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It is part of a group of tribes participating in the "treelords" Treaty of Waitangi settlement with the New Zealand government involving Central North Island forestry land and cash.
Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori.
The Ministry for Primary Industries is the public service department of New Zealand charged with overseeing, managing and regulating the farming, fishing, food, animal welfare, biosecurity, and forestry sectors of New Zealand's primary industries.
Mourea is a settlement in Rotorua Lakes within the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island.
Poroporo is a rural community in the Whakatāne District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located south-west of Whakatāne, inland from the settlement.
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