26 January 2022
Pines vital to reach climate change targets – response to OpEd by Anne Salmond on Newshub on 24 January.
Without an expansion of exotic pine forests there is no hope New Zealand can reach Zero Carbon by 2050.
A lack of available response time is but one critical flaw in Dame Anne Salmond’s argument to switch to a reliance on indigenous trees as the tool to capture carbon from the atmosphere.
The minimum period to take global action to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions is shrinking from decades down to years. We need to heavily and quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our industry and transport. We need to sequester large volumes of carbon in trees.
Unfortunately, the role of indigenous trees in this equation is negligible.
If we plant a hectare of native trees now, then by 2050 it will have only locked up one tenth of the volume of carbon that a hectare of pines, planted at the same time, will achieve.
Or, looked at another way, it would take ten hectares of farmland, taken out of pasture and planted in native trees, to achieve the same carbon capture as one hectare of pines.
Dame Anne wants the Emissions Trading Scheme doctored to favour indigenous tree planting to take millions of hectares of farmland out of pasture and into native trees. Most farmers would not see a cent from these trees.
Indigenous timber returns, and employment in their forestry, are indeed prospects for the future. But few cash strapped farmers are in a position to wait for a number of decades.
The cost of establishment of native trees is between $1500 and $50,000 per hectare, according to the Ministry for the Environment. The cost of establishing pines is $2500 or less.
Dame Anne would strip the opportunity for farmers to integrate these trees into their farm operation and earn timber income.
This is not to advocate for carbon-only farming, quite the opposite.
As the use of modern engineered timber gains pace in this country, as a concrete and steel substitute, and the conversion of dairy processing energy from coal to wood sources also increases, the demand for pine wood will increase – not diminish.
Dame Anne is ironically advocating measures which would perpetuate the fossil fuel economy.
Much of Dame Anne’s critical commentary on pine forests is simply gratuitous. She joins a chorus of recent mythology, such as overseas investors growing carbon-only forests (they aren’t allowed to).
For instance, she points to accidents in pine forests. Apparently, she believes such accidents would not happen in native tree forests.
Pines are shallow rooted, she writes, and they sometimes are blown over. She should know that exactly the same applies to most native trees, especially tōtara.
There indeed are debris flows from all erodible landscapes from time to time, even with a cover of native trees on them, as can be seen in recent times on the West Coast. Pine trees secure land better than pasture, a lesson the East Coast learned from Cyclone Bola.
Plantation forests typically include areas of indigenous trees. Fauna, such as kiwi and karearea, flourish in a planation forest environment.
Clearly, native trees are a key part of our history and landscape. They have huge emotional and spiritual value. They, quite properly, are being planted in all sorts of places for all sorts of reasons.
The DoC estate, weed ridden local government lands, marginal farmland, riparian strips, QE II covenants – are large areas which all benefit from more native trees on them.
Pest and weed control in existing native forests though would be a better investment than planting more natives, simply to try to substitute pine trees.
Native trees need not, and should not, be weaponised as a platform to invent sins for exotic forestry.
See here for the Anne Salmond OpEd; https://www.newsroom.co.nz/anne-salmond-nzs-climate-planting-asking-for-trouble