Logging truck crossing a bridge in Tokomaru Bay with slash in the river.
Photo: IKON Media / Aaron Smale
The effects of Cyclone Gabrielle are still being felt around Te Tai Rawhiti.
The impact forestry has had on the environment, economy and the people on the East Coast is more apparent than ever.
The torrential rain at the start of 2022 saw the leftovers from forestry harvests, slash, descending down rivers, washing away bridges, dislocating and isolating communities along the coast in its path.
The first place to see the sun in Aotearoa is also an early adopter of farming and forestry. In Tairawhiti: Pine, Profit and the Cyclone, Aaron Smale travels the coast to reveal a long history of colonial and environmental exploitation.
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Teenagers launch a kayak on a slash covered beach in Tolaga Bay. (PHOTO: IKON Media / Aaron Smale)
Logs on Gisborne wharf. (PHOTO: IKON Media/Aaron Smale)
Graeme Aitken, near Ruatorea, East Coast, New Zealand. (PHOTO: IKON Media/Aaron Smale)
Trucks unloading logs on Gisborne wharf. (PHOTO: IKON Media/Aaron Smale)
Slash on beach at Tolaga Bay. (PHOTO: IKON Media/Aaron Smale)
State Highway 35 just north of Tokomaru Bay that was destroyed by a landslide after Cyclone Gabrielle. (PHOTO: IKON Media/Aaron Smale)
Hills on Mata Rd, behind Tokomaru Bay, showing exposed land after forestry harvesting with slash left on the hills and slips starting. (PHOTO: IKON Media/Aaron Smale)
Scientist Mike Marden, Gisborne, New Zealand. (PHOTO: IKON Media/Aaron Smale)
Kaumatua Jack Chambers, Tokomaru Bay, East Coast, New Zealand. (PHOTO: IKON Media/Aaron Smale)
