Concern as carbon offset partnership plants pines in biodiversity hotspot.
Date: 8th December 2023
Please read the article in the link below.
It covers a conundrum that is occurring all over Aotearoa. This one in South Marlborough occurred prior to the changes to the NES-PF (National Environmental Standard – Production Forests) in early November 2023 that have now become the NES-CF (NES Commercial Forests. Refer previous post on this and link below: https://environment.govt.nz/acts-and-regulations/regulations/national-environmental-standards-for-commercial-forestry/
Photo: Supplied by DOC
The green dots, right, high on the bank of Ben More Stream, surrounded by bush, are pine seedlings at Dryland Carbon’s Matiawa property north of Kaikoura. Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls took the photo, looking downstream from Matiawa’s boundary with Isolated Hill Scenic Reserve.
There is not a lot of logic planting a tree species (Douglas fir) for carbon offsetting on the boundary of a conservation area (the Branch Leatham catchment) that is being significantly impacted by that same species especially when DOC (who Air NZ is a sponsor of) and the South Marlborough Landscape Restoration Trust are working really hard to remove wildings in the catchment.
Photo: Anthony Phelps/STUFF/Marlborough Express
In photo: Steve Satterthwaite of Muller Station, left, and Ket Bradshaw, South Marlborough Landscape Restoration Trust coordinator talk about wilding pines in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough.
A very well written article with views from all sides. Its’ an interesting irony – on the one hand companies offsetting their carbon on the other that offsetting will create significant adverse environmental effects in a high biodiversity area next door.
Posted in: News