From the Solomon Islands to forestry entrepreneur

Growing up in the beautiful and warm Soloman Islands, which relies heavily on agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, with timber exports being particularly important, Davey Alifeo spent many school holidays giving his father (a local Soloman forestry worker) a hand which is where his love for forestry and the outdoors was born.

“I really like working in the outdoors, I love the bush, the fresh air, and the environment so it suited me to take a career in forestry,” Davey explains.

Now based in Marlborough Davey has spent the past 20 years working under forestry contractors in the silviculture space before branching out in 2021 and starting Hawk Silviculture.  “Silviculture has a good variety of work with winter planting, spot spraying, and summer thinning, we are also moving blocks often so get to see different views and areas which is neat,” Davey says.

And if you wonder how fast they move, Davey says a team of four can plant four hectares of trees a day.

“Our team is also involved in helping with wildfires. There are often small fires locally and we are on hand to help which is really good to be able to help,” Davey says. The devastating 2019 Pigeon Valley fire in Tasman saw Davey head over and help for close to two months. “That was a big fire, people were very kind, and we were so well looked after while we worked there,” Davey explains. “We also got to meet and interact with silviculture crews from all around New Zealand which was an experience.”

Leading his own silviculture crew for the past few years has been fulfilling for Davey, who concludes, “I simply love being out there, with a good team, enjoying the outdoors.”