A newly published study by New Zealand researchers has found that regulatory reforms introduced after Cyclone Gabrielle (a powerful 2023 storm that caused catastrophic flooding and landslides across the North Island's Tairāwhiti region) have done little to reduce the risks posed by forestry slash — the timber debris left on hillsides after logging. Analysing consent applications filed with the Gisborne District Council through mid-2025, researchers found that only one of six harvesting approvals placed any limits on clear-cut size, and none excluded high-risk gully systems and headwater basins from logging activity, despite those areas being among the most landslide-prone. The findings come as the national government proposes further loosening of the National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry while simultaneously limiting councils' ability to impose stricter local rules, raising concern that regional communities and taxpayers will continue to absorb the costs of future slash-driven disasters.