Plantation Sustainability – Environment
Greenhouse Gases:
Carbon Storage & Climate Change
Well planned and managed forest sink (planted forest) projects can contribute to greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and provide complementary environmental and socio-economic benefits.
Likewise there is little doubt that Australia will face some degree of climate change over the next 30 to 50 years, irrespective of global or local efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions. The plantation industry is considered to have high adaptive capacity to respond to changing climatic conditions.
This section brings together or provides direction to resources and information for thinking about carbon storage (forest sinks or carbon sequestration) opportunities and climate change adaptation possibilities for plantation forests.
The Australian Greenhouse Office website www.greenhouse.gov.au contains many useful resources in relation to establishing forest sinks or plantation forests for carbon storage.
National Climate Change and Commercial Forestry Action Plan - New
On 6 November 2009 the Primary Industries Ministerial Council, acting also on behalf of the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council, endorsed the ‘National Climate Change and Commercial Forestry Action Plan 2009-2012’.
The action plan is intended to guide action by the forestry industry, with the support of governments, to respond to climate change through adaptation and mitigation, underpinned by research and development and communication.
The plan identifies knowledge gaps and proposes actions to assist forest industries to respond to climate change. Governments have consulted with stakeholders to develop practical strategies and actions to manage the risks, and take advantage of opportunities, bought about by climate change impacts and policy responses.
Access the plan: Commercial Forestry Climate Change Action Plan
Forests, Wood and Australia’s Carbon Balance
The sustainable forest products industry in Australia can help reduce society’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. While the storage of carbon in forests is well understood, the important contribution that wood (both in service and after disposal) makes to carbon storage is less well-recognised.
The booklet ‘Forests, Wood and Australia’s Carbon Balance’ details the extent to which plantations and other commercial forests, as well as the wood products produced from those forests, contribute to Australia’s carbon balance. It also identifies opportunities to improve that contribution further.
Download Forests, Wood and Australia’s Carbon Balance (pdf)
Growing Trees as Greenhouse Sinks – An overview for Local Government
Local governments are active in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their own activities and encouraging emissions reduction actions by local communities. Many councils are taking action through Cities for Climate Protection™ Australia, a programme delivered by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives in collaboration with the Australian Greenhouse Office to assist local governments and their communities reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Local councils also carry out and promote establishment of vegetation for a range of environmental and community benefits. Establishing trees in urban and rural areas can provide a practical contribution to local and national efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, while potentially contributing to Australia’s other environmental and economic goals.
This booklet shows how greenhouse can be incorporated into local government’s climate change and vegetation management activities. It provides information on:
- how trees can contribute to greenhouse emissions abatement;
- what ocal government can do to establish or support forest sink activities;
- forest sink activities that will contribute to Australia’s greenhouse gas abatement effort;
- greenhouse gas emission offsets and carbon markets; and
- how quantities of carbon sequestered in forests are estimated.
Download the report Growing Trees as Greenhouse Sinks – an overview for Local Government (pdf)
Growing Trees as Greenhouse Sinks - An Overview for Landholders
Trees can provide a practical contribution to efforts on farms and at the national level to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, while potentially contributing to Australia’s other environmental and economic goals. They also offer the opportunity for landholders to gain benefits from participating in emissions offset initiatives.
Farmers and other landmanagers manage existing forests and plant new ones for a range of reasons.
This booklet shows how climate change can be included in these considerations. It provides information on:
- how trees can contribute to greenhouse emissions abatement;
- actions that landholders can undertake to establish trees as forest sinks;
- forest sink activities that will contribute to Australia’s greenhouse gas abatement effort;
- greenhouse gas emission offsets and carbon markets; and
- how quantities of carbon sequestered in forests are estimated.
Download the report Growing Trees as Greenhouse Sinks – an overview for Landholders (pdf)
Accounting for Carbon – The National Carbon Accounting Toolbox and Data Viewer
The Australian Greenhouse Office has released a National Carbon Accounting Toolbox and Data Viewer. The National Carbon Accounting Toolbox provides a set of tools for tracking greenhouse gas emissions and carbon stock changes from land use and management, including all supporting technical documentation. The Data Viewer contains a unique 30 year visual record of landscape and vegetation change in Australia since 1972, as seen through several national snapshots of satellite data. These are excellent products.
Download National Carbon Accounting Toolbox and Data Viewer Information Sheet (pdf)
To request a free copy of these products, email ncas@greenhouse.gov.au with your postal details.
Forestry-Carbon Sequestration Review
Prepared for the Department of Primary Industries Victoria by the CRC for Greenhouse Accounting
This report, prepared in September 2005, reviews the current status of forestry for carbon sequestration in Australia –including the background, national level accounting schemes, project level forest carbon accounting, current and future policy and regulatory environments, mechanisms relating to greenhouse gas abatement through forestry and management of forests to enhance climate-change mitigation and other environmental and economic benefits. The report also includes some case study analyses.
Download Forestry-Carbon Sequestration Review (pdf)
Climate Change Risk & Vulnerability—Implications for the plantation industry
The Australian Government has taken action towards planning for the potential impact of climate change on vulnerable regions throughout the nation with a report released in July 2005.
The document, Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability—promoting an efficient adaptation response in Australia provides a valuable insight into how early planning could help governments, industries and communities plan for the effects of climate change, adapt to the impacts and exploit any opportunities.
This report is particularly pertinent for both management of native forests and planning for a future plantation estate.
Read Climate change risk & vulnerability: implications for the plantation industry (pdf) or access the full report Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability—promoting an efficient adaptation response in Australia (pdf)
Some organisations working innovatively with carbon markets
New Forests
New Forests Pty Limited ("New Forests"), formed in July 2005, is an asset management and advisory business that offers services in the forestry sector, specialising in sustainable forest management and emerging environmental markets.
New Forests is supporting institutional investment clients in Australia and the United States. New Forests is also providing advisory and consulting services both domestically and internationally to business, governments and investors on forestry investment and environmental transactions.
David Brand, Managing Director of New Forests, said, “There is significant growth in institutional investor interest in forestry, and a growing interest in investments that can tap into new value from carbon offsets, renewable energy, water markets and even biodiversity conservation.”
Find out more about New Forests www.newforests.com.au
TreeSmart
Each year, the average Australian vehicle emits about 4.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide - the major Greenhouse Gas. While various attempts are being made in the transport sector to reduce vehicle use and emissions an alternative way of reducing Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere is to remove them after they have been emitted via carbon sequestration in trees.
The TreeSmart program aims to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by planting, maintaining and harvesting plantation eucalypt trees. The TreeSmart program is different to some other carbon sequestration programs that plant trees and leave them unmaintained as a perpetual forest. Research by TreeSmart Australia has shown that plantations that are harvested on a regular rotation can absorb more CO2 over their lifetime than can a perpetual forest, when one counts the carbon still sequestered in timber products derived from the plantation, or the reduction in fossil fuel use as a result of using the harvested timber as fuelwood. They can also do this more cost-effectively because the cost of planting in subsidised by the revenue obtained from the harvest.
The TreeSmart program will operate by selling subscriptions to Australian travellers (motorists, road freight operators, public transport travellers, air travellers, conference attendees) to enable the CO2 emissions from their travel to be absorbed (sequestered) in eucalypt trees grown for eventual harvesting and replanting.
Find out more about TreeSmart http://www.treesmart.com.au/index.html
CO2 Australia
The CO2 AUSTRALIA™ Carbon Sequestration Program is a unique program initially concentrated in New South Wales under which the CO2 Group of Companies establishes long term (150 years) mallee environmental plantings on agricultural land. These plantings are permanent dedicated carbon sinks. CO2 Australia measures the plantings to determine the amount of carbon dioxide they have sequestered and then currently uses these measurements to create New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Certificates.
The mallee environmental plantings are integrated into the cropping regimes of the landowner. These belts vary in width and spacing with the design of the plantings on a landowner's property undertaken in full consultation with the landowner.
Find out more about C02 Australia: www.co2australia.com.au
