Carbon Farming Turns Threat Into Opportunity

By David MacLeod
Chairman, Taranaki Regional Council

Whether you regard it as a dire environmental threat or a load of hot air, climate change is an issue that is clearly not going to go away.

The Government has announced a series of measures to counter climate change, including financial incentives, and these bring new opportunities for land owners in Taranaki.

Key points underpinning the issue include:

Simply put, trees reduce the level of greenhouse gases by removing carbon from the atmosphere and turning it into wood. The whole point of the new approach is to keep land in trees and to promote the growth of new trees.  So harvesting incurs a new cost (the surrender or repayment of the new carbon credits) unless the felled trees are replaced. You can’t have your carbon and eat it too.

The new forestry regime has had a long gestation period, and is vastly different from what was first proposed. The Government has addressed many of the concerns originally raised by foresters, and it has also won a large measure of cross-party political support. Further major changes would seem unlikely.

Depending on species and other factors, the progressive and selective harvesting of plantation trees can allow owners to avoid a huge financial hit from the total loss of carbon credits. Professional advice is available on this.

The Government has also announced a Permanent Forest Sink Initiative under which carbon credits are available for planting or regeneration.  Excitingly, this can apply to land that is erodible, steep, low in fertility and a long way from infrastructure – in short, land that is otherwise an economic liability.

As well as hugely benefiting the environment, this offers a useful new income stream for land owners – made even more attractive by combining it with apiculture, for example. Again, professional advice is available.

The details of these schemes are complicated in parts and the Taranaki Regional Council has organised seminars to help land owners get to grips with the new regime and understand how to obtain the maximum advantages for themselves as well as the environment. The seminars will be held at 1pm on 26 February at the Douglas hall in eastern Taranaki and at 1pm on 27 February at the Border Rugby Club, Chester Street, Waverley.  The seminars are free and will be followed by refreshments and barbecue.

Most of the region’s land owners have in general proved themselves to be good environmental stewards and the Council is confident that armed with the right knowledge, they will react wisely to fresh  challenges in a new era in forestry.

While our concerns and actions are local, it is also worth considering the threats and opportunities in a global context.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, deforestation is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world; the largest source is the burning of fuels for electricity, power and heat.

But according to the New York Times, the emissions trading market is worth an estimated $US30 billion and is expected to grow to $US1 trillion within a decade. Merrill Lynch says carbon could become one of the fastest growing markets ever.