Recently the government decided that exotic tree species such as Pinus Radiata etc would not be excluded from the Emissions Trading Scheme.

 

From January 1, 2023 forest owners can lock up pine plantations, as “permanent forests”.

 

In return, while the trees are growing, owners will be able to earn credits which they can sell to polluting industries to offset their emissions, but when the trees stop growing those revenue streams finish.

 

This means pine plantations will increasingly be planted with no intent to harvest.

 

This new carbon farming industry is expected to rapidly spread across New Zealand.

 

The problem that the country faces is that once pine trees stop growing they lose their value and in fact become a liability.

 

Pine is a relatively short-lived species, especially in New Zealand and given this pine plantations sequester carbon for a relatively brief period.

 

As the trees age and die, the risks of fire and disease increase, along with the risk the plantations will be abandoned as any deforestation will require the owners to buy emission units and with the price of emissions units increasing significantly over time there is a high risk that owners may just walk away and leave us with the problem of accounting for the carbon released at the end of the plantation life.

 

When landowners can’t or won’t meet their obligations the environment may suffer, biodiversity be negatively impacted, resilience to climate change be reduced and the New Zealand taxpayers will be left to pay the bills.

 

Carbon farming in the form of permanent radiata forests – is now perceived by some in our rural communities to be a threat to the traditional farming way of life and the threat is actually real.

 

The price of carbon has more than doubled in 12 months; from $30 a year ago to over $65 per tonne of emissions now. It is likely the price of carbon will continue to increase as demand for carbon credits outstrips supply.

 

This makes growing forests, rather than raising sheep and beef, more attractive to many local and overseas investors and the government needs to ensure we promote long term primary sector sustainability in that process, by ensuring the right tree is planted in the right place.

 

First and foremost, although it is not the role of government to tell a farmer who they can and cannot sell their farms to, it is necessary, for government to ensure the right tree is actually planted for the right reasons in the right place.

 

We do not want to see large tracts of productive farmland converted to carbon farming, or to see vast areas of the rural landscape full of ghost towns as a result of changes to carbon farming, but we do want to take action to alleviate the effects of climate change.

 

There is an old saying; “the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now”.

 

There is no time to waste but we need adequate planning to ensure we aren’t leaving further problems for our next generations to have to deal with.