Annual reputation survey provides insight into public perceptions of forestry

The results of the Forest Growers Levy Trust’s 7th annual Social Licence to Operate (SLO) survey have been published, continuing to build one of the sector’s most valuable long-term evidence bases for understanding how New Zealanders view forestry.

After 7 years of tracking, the research increasingly provides a clearer picture of what shapes public confidence in forestry.

While forestry’s overall SLO score eased slightly this year, from 6.8 to 6.6, similar declines were recorded across almost all primary industries. Broader economic conditions may be contributing to softer public sentiment overall, highlighting the importance of considering annual results within the context of longer-term trends rather than in isolation.

A macro view of our scoring shows that forestry continues to track towards greater overall public acceptance, with the industry’s score six points higher than baseline.

Post-harvest management and environmental performance continue to be industry’s biggest reputational challenge, while health and safety surfaced this year as being of concern to the public, overtaking economic contribution as the strongest driver of negative perceptions.

There was widespread acknowledgement of forestry’s importance to New Zealand, with around two-thirds of respondents agreeing. At the same time, the overall SLO score of 6.6 suggests perceptions of forestry are neither strongly positive nor negative – but sit somewhere in the middle. Building greater trust and confidence in forestry by engaging on key concerns will be important to shifting those perceptions towards the more positive end of the scale.

There were also perception differences between audiences. Respondents in urban areas increasingly focused on issues such as worker safety, environmental performance and fire risk, while those in rural communities remain more closely connected to operational impacts they experience directly, including slash management, roads and local community contribution.

Younger New Zealanders remain an important focus for future engagement. The 18–

34-year-old age group holds the least favourable perceptions of forestry and has the lowest awareness of how many everyday products come from forests, highlighting an opportunity to build greater understanding of forestry’s role in daily life.

Respondents also reported wanting to hear more from the industry. However, the opportunity is not simply to communicate more, but to demonstrate responsible forestry in action through visible, consistent and credible communication.

These insights help the Trust understand how perceptions are evolving and inform where to focus its communications, campaigns and advocacy efforts.