Rimu Wood Paneling
The installation of wood paneling from New Zealand has been renewed at different periods, including a 1953 initial presentation, in 1957 for an expansion, and in 1979 for a complete replacement due to exposure.
The gift involves the provision of the Rimu wood veneer flitches from New Zealand, and the funds to install them, for the original call to beautification of the UN Headquarters. Before April 1951, the New Zealand government offered 2,000 sq. ft. of native Rimu wood paneling and it was considered for the Delegates' Entrance Lobby, on the first floor of the General Assembly building.
New Zealand has 1.7 million hectares of plantation forests and the forest constitutes an environmentally sustainable industry. Trees absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere and recycle it into life giving oxygen. This wood production is New Zealand’s third largest industry and improves the economy, society, and environmental security. Public interest in climate change and the environment has highlighted the benefits of cultivating and maintaining forests for the reduction of CO2 emissions.
The gift was formally presented by the Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations, Leslie Knox Munro and was accepted by UN Secretary-General Trygve Lie.