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Beef + Lamb NZ chair Kate Acland.
There is an urgent need for the Government to put a limit on the sale of farms for forestry - particularly for carbon farming.
That's the plea from the Beef + Lamb NZ chair Kate Acland who says the latest statistics show that since the end of 2022 more than 51,000ha of farmland has been sold to forestry interests. She says this far exceeds the 25,500ha the Climate Change Commission has recommended should be sold in any given year.
Acland adds that between 2017 and the end of June this year, a total of 261,733ha have been sold and believes this figure will turn out to be higher given the lag time in producing the statistics. She says there's already been a significant decline in stock numbers because of afforestation over the past few years.
"We estimate for every 100,000 hectares planted close to one million stock units are lost. While on one hand the decline in stock numbers means our sector has already dramatically reduced its overall greenhouse gas emissions and warming impact, the way it's happening is simply not sustainable," she says.
Acland says B+LNZ is not anti-forestry and says they support the integration of trees on farms. But say they just want some limits aroud the conversion of whole farms into forestry for carbon credits.
"We welcome the Government's intention to announce measures before Christmas and note that the National Party's pre-election manifesto sets out a sensible platform to work from," she says.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (BLNZ) says the release of New Zealand's latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory clearly shows agriculture is playing its part in emissions reductions and there is no need for a price on agricultural emissions.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) says the Government needs to close loopholes in the guidance around limits on carbon forestry as news of further whole-farm sales emerges.
OPINION: Forests planted for carbon credits are permanently locking up NZ’s landscapes, and could land us with more carbon costs, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE).
Forests planted for carbon credits are permanently locking up NZ’s landscapes, and could land us with more carbon costs, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE).
The chair of Beef + Lamb NZ, Kate Acland says the rush appears to be on to purchase farms and convert them to forestry before new rules limiting this come into effect.
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