The nation's second-biggest Maori tribe, Ngati Porou, has signed a deal with
international company Sustainable Forestry Management Ltd to convert up to
30,000ha of degraded land into "carbon sink" forests.
The Ngati Porou iwi – on the North Island's East Coast – is also looking at
planting exotic species such as eucalyptus, Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton
said yesterday.
"Ngati Porou signed a deal with UK-based carbon investors to plant up to
30,000ha of marginal and erosion-prone land with slow-rotation forestry under
the Government's permanent forest `sinks' initiative," he said.
Mr Anderton was announcing Government proposals to stop deforestation and get
farmers and foresters to change practices to better protect the environment.
The Government needs to increase the number of trees planted in order to offset
carbon emissions if it is to come close to meeting its obligations under the
international Kyoto Protocol treaty on climate change.
A "significant" forestry planting programme using thousands of acres was one
option, he said.
The Ngati Porou scheme – to be named Iwi Rakau (Forests of the People) – is
expected to sequester up to 75 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and in addition
provide increased protection against erosion and flooding resulting from
sediment carried into waterways.
The forest blocks will earn carbon credits as they revert to native forest over
the next three decades, but will have to be maintained for at least 100 years.
Once the forest has grown to a mature, fully-closed canopy, individual trees
making up to 20 per cent of the forest will be able to be harvested – as long as
the canopy remains continuous.
Mr Anderton said using valuable species such as eucalypts would allow the iwi to
generate extra money.
After a century, the iwi will be able to clear-fell the forests, as long as they
compensate for the carbon emissions involved.
A scientist at Landcare Research, David Whitehead, has separately estimated
there is potential for nearly 1.5 million hectares of land, particularly on the
east coast of the North Island in the Gisborne area, to be turned into forest
qualifying for carbon credits.
According to Dr Whitehead, Landcare's research leader on global change
processes, about 1.45 million hectares of marginal pastoral land have the
potential to store 50 per cent of the carbon dioxide sequestered by the nation's
forestry plantations.
"Carbon farming" was likely to be economically viable if international prices
paid for carbon reached just $NZ20/tonne, said Dr Whitehead. But even at a
conservative value of $12/tonne, Landcare Research has estimated 1 million
hectares of land could earn $60 million.
The iwi will receive tradable carbon credits the end of the first five-year
Kyoto Protocol commitment period in 2012, but will be able to also trade
"forward", essentially selling their credits before receiving them.