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Story: Southern beech forest

Beech forestry, 1950s

Video file

In the 1940s and 1950s the New Zealand Forest Service undertook a nationwide survey of native forests to determine their potential for timber production. In this film clip, members of a survey team learn how to distinguish beech species and set off to work on one of their survey lines.

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Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Beech Foresters. National Film Unit, 1951

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Joanna Orwin, Southern beech forest – Beech timber, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/13322/beech-forestry-1950s (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Joanna Orwin, published 1 March 2009.