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Foresters say climate change mitigation is in their hands

At the Institute of Foresters of Australia national conference IFA president said “…the science presented shows clearly that forestry can contribute most strongly to climate change mitigation in Australia through carbon stored in timber”. Source: Timberbiz

“While activities under the Carbon Farming Initiative enjoy bi-partisan support, the whole scheme will make little impact while it largely precludes registration of projects where timber is harvested,” said IFA President, Rob de Fégely.

Fégely said that long-term investment is required to develop forest carbon projects and this investment should not be held hostage to the “policy of the day”.

He said that what’s needed is a robust forest carbon industry and to achieve this we need robust bi-partisan policies for the long term.

Speaking at the conference, Dr John Raison, an internationally recognised forest scientist, agreed that the potential contribution of Australian forests to climate change mitigation is poorly represented in current government policies and programs.

He recommends actions that will enable forests to make a positive contribution to mitigating climate change including sustainable harvesting and replanting of forests, replacing energy intensive materials with harvested wood products, and using forest biomass for production of bioenergy.

Leading carbon expert Zoe Ryan has seen first-hand how carbon can deliver significant benefits to landowners, and said that in south western Queensland carbon revenues already supplement on-farm income.

However, Ryan warned that current market uncertainty means carbon is only the “cherry on top” and not the “whole pie”, she added.