Plantation forestry projects get go ahead for carbon credits under Climate Solutions
Planting more trees is an obvious way to help cut carbon pollution. But worries about water have made it hard for forestry to get into government funding schemes. That’s about to change.
SA News
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The Green Triangle in South Australia’s South-East is one of five forestry regions nationally where it will become easier to access funds aimed at reducing carbon pollution.
Previously forestry projects in high rainfall areas have been largely unable to apply to produce carbon credits under the emissions reduction fund.
However, the Federal Government on Thursday will announce new rules enabling forestry projects in the five areas to apply for funding, which has been topped up by $2 billion.
“Reducing red tape for projects located in the five Regional Forestry Hubs will support regional jobs and investment, including in communities hard hit by last summer’s bushfires,” Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said.
“This will make it easier for the private sector to invest in new Australian forestry projects, supporting jobs and reducing emissions.”
Previously, the scheme’s regulations required plantation projects to buy water entitlements to offset the loss of rainfall run-off trapped by the new trees.
The Government now says advances in water management allow this restriction to be lifted.
An exclusion on projects that cease or avoid plantation forest harvesting also will be removed.
Under the fund’s reverse auction run by the Clean Energy Regulator, projects bid to produce carbon credits which the Government purchases.
Barker MP Tony Pasin said there was plenty of demand with more than 900 million cubic metres of sawn softwood imported to Australia annually.
“The forestry industry has said for a long time that the previous regulations had been an impediment to plantation expansion,” he said.
“The industry already employs over 10,000 people in SA, more than 7000 of these are in the South East within the Green Triangle Hub area.
“It’s a big employer but it has the potential to grow.”
The changes are in line with recommendations from a review by an expert panel, led by businessman Grant King, into carbon abatement.
The review found that since the global financial crisis “plantation establishment in Australia effectively ceased”.
“Over the past 10 years, the hardwood estate has also shrunk, falling from almost 1 million hectares to less than 900,000ha,” it said.
“The loss of these plantations is a form of deforestation that has resulted in the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“Encouraging the reversal of these losses and further expansion of the estate can provide a cheap and effective form of abatement.”
In addition to the Green triangle, forestry hubs will be southwestern WA, north-north-west Tasmania, northeast NSW and the South West Slopes region of NSW/Victoria.