It’s 72 years since John Wardle began his career in forestry, and it would be fair to say he’s seen a lot of change over that time.
Brought up in Hāwea Flat, Central Otago, it made sense that he would look for an outdoor job and he secured an opportunity as a forest labourer in Southland at 18.
He says he was lucky to gain experience in a range of forestry activities, including horse extraction of small forest material, pruning with long-handled saws, cable logging and planting.
In 1972 he and his wife Rosalie bought Woodside, a derelict piece of land they have since developed as Black Beech and Radiata Pine forest. He says, because of his forestry background and experience with Beech forests, he saw some potential and he knew what Woodside could become with a bit of time and effort.At the time, John was working in research as a Senior Forest Ecologist for the Forest and Range Experiment Station. Development of the land has continued hand in hand with John’s research work.
To read more about John’s story, get your copy of the August 2026 edition of NZ Logger magazine, on sale from 3 August. Check the link on this page to subscribe to either a printed or digital copy (or both).
