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New Zealand’s Forest Owners Association and Forest Industry Contractors Association have come together to establish a new joint Training Committee to strengthen how the sector approaches vocational training. Source: Timberbiz The new committee is comprised of eight individuals, with four representatives from key industry organisations, who will provide coordinated leadership and ensure training systems reflect the real needs of forest owners, contractors and the wider workforce. This includes one representative from Ngā Pou a Tāne, bringing a Te Ao Māori perspective to the table, and another from the Farm Forestry Association, ensuring the voice of small-scale forest owners is represented. Kevin Ihaka, a respected forestry contractor and board member of both FICA and Muka Tangata, has been elected as the new Committee chair. He brings extensive experience and insight into forestry training. The committee’s work will focus on the following priorities over the next one to two years: The 2025 rollout of vocational education reform, following the current consultation process The scheduled review of forestry qualifications in 2025 Developing better forecasting tools to anticipate workforce needs more accurately using a wider range of data These areas offer important opportunities to strengthen the way training is delivered and ensure it keeps pace with the changes affecting the forestry sector. The new committee reflects a shared commitment by FOA and FICA to work more closely on long-standing challenges in training, such as fragmented feedback loops, duplicated effort and misalignment between funding and industry needs. By bringing together forest owners and contractors in a structured way, the committee is well placed to advocate for training solutions that are practical, coordinated and future-focused. It also provides a mechanism to respond more effectively to government consultations and policy developments, helping ensure the industry’s voice is clearly heard in decisions that impact its workforce. The ultimate aim of the committee is to help the sector build a more skilled and adaptable workforce—one that is well equipped to respond to ongoing change, whether that’s through new technology, environmental requirements or evolving job roles. By improving how training is planned, delivered and evaluated, FOA and FICA hope to better support both new entrants to forestry and those already working in the sector who are looking to upskill. The formation of the Joint Training Committee marks a step forward in collaboration between two key parts of the forestry sector. It reflects a desire to move beyond business as usual and take a more strategic approach to workforce development. As the work of the committee progresses, FOA and FICA are confident that this partnership will help create a more responsive, sustainable and effective training system for the future of New Zealand forestry