The costs would be borne by the owner of a forest planted before 1990, who now wanted to harvest those trees but then convert the land to another use, probably pastoral farming.
To avoid having to pay a potentially hefty carbon liability to the Government under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) they have the option of replacing the forest somewhere else.
It’s called an Offset forest and Christchurch-based consultant Ollie Belton has clients keen to plant out about 1000ha of forest.
He has landowners with 400ha to 500ha willing to provide the land. He’s keen for more landowners to see the potential benefits of such a deal.
At current carbon unit pricing of about $9.80 a unit, the cost of a carbon liability to the Government could be about $6000 a hectare (allowing for up to 650t of timber per hectare) for a forester harvesting and not replanting.
The cost of establishing an Offset forest was much less than that, Belton said.
The landowner would get the free forest, which they could manage and harvest for income at the end of the growing cycle. There was a catch: the Offset forest in turn would need to be replaced after harvest or the then-owner would need to meet an ETS liability.
“As far as the ETS goes, it will always have the status of a pre-1990 forest, as if the original is still in place.’’
However, the landowner would not need to harvest the Offset forest. It could remain in the ground in perpetuity.
Land that has previously been forest cannot be used for an Offset forest and the forests would not earn carbon credits.
Belton’s Carbon Forest Services was yet to plant its first Offset, but expects the first planting in winter next year, with projects in both North and South islands.
“Studies have shown that a lot of land on existing farms round the country is ideal for schemes like this.”
Ollie Belton
Carbon Forest Services
The hoops to go through include getting government approval, in a process which assesses both the forest being cut down and what was intended as the replacement planting.
This could take a few months and he has submissions in waiting for a Government answer.
With all the other planning work involved – which might involve spraying and clearing of gorse and broom on some marginal land – it could take two years between deciding to commit to an Offset and actually doing the planting, Belton said.
Among his landowning clients were beekeepers keen to make their land available for planting manuka trees as a source of honey.
“Studies have shown that a lot of land on existing farms round the country is ideal for schemes like this and often we just need to get farmers to change their mindset to go for it.’’
The two parties would not have an ongoing relationship under the Offset forest regime, Belton said.
The forester would plant the forest and in some case make a cash payment to the landowner, but after the establishment period had nothing more to do with the forest.
