Confusion and uncertainty over the criteria and management of the scheme not only make it difficult to set aside land as ETS carbon sinks but deprive owners of poor performing, inaccessible land of a valuable source of income.
With the Government setting some ambitious greenhouse gas emission goals, land owners can generate significant new income from carbon farming by planting trees and selling the credits.
The twin issues of climate change, the creation of carbon units or forest sinks and reducing emissions, appear to be working in opposition to each other, he said.
“Rules and administering the rules are standing in the way of creating forestry and the possibility of establishing carbon credit offsetting sinks.”
He has a 200ha property near Waverley that he estimates by 2020 will have generated $150,000 from carbon credits and manuka honey with the pest control the only annual cost.
A Ministry for Primary Industry spokesman said it is aware of landowner concerns about forests being eligible for the ETS and criteria are being reviewed with any changes requiring a legislative amendment.
“MPI is currently working on operational improvements to the ETS for forestry and is already aware of the concerns some landowners have regarding their ability to establish the potential eligibility of land before it is established in forest.”
Long-term or permanent forest, where appropriate, is a feature of the ministry’s climate change, water quality, regional growth and billion-tree planting policies.
Walker said landowners have a role if the country is to meet its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050 but under the present regime participation is confusing and the threshold creates too much risk.
Walker said he had a 25ha steep hill block he planned to plant in eucalyptus regnum, which can live for 100 years, as a carbon sink.
He had been told by MPI it could not indicate or tell him if the land qualifies for the ETS until after it is planted.
To be eligible to enter the ETS and receive carbon credits under present legislation, MPI assessed the suitability of registering forest land for inclusion in the ETS using aerial photography, site visits and information from the applicant.
“By definition the land must already be in forest when any assessment is made, for the assessment to deem the land eligible to enter.”
That means applicants cannot get an assessment of the land without planting it though there is an avenue through the Environmental Protection Authority that can provide landowners with some clarity before planting.
Walker hired a Palmerston North mapping company to assess whether the 25ha qualified, for which he believed it did, so he has decided to invest in planting the forest ahead of any MPI decision.
But landowners need clarity about the suitability of land so they can make forest planting decisions.
They do not want to destroy regenerating bush but areas of weed and low-producing pasture are ideal carbon sinks while also providing a new source of income.
