An area of land prepared for the 30,000 trees being planted in the Derwent Valley

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Planting of Derwent Valley through carbon offsetting

Posted on 07 October, 2010 in Stornoway News

Media Release
7 October 2010

Greening Australia, Tasmania CEO, Jonathan Duddles today welcomed the Climate Change Minister, Nick McKim to the first planting of the Biodiverse Carbon for Landscape Restoration project in the Derwent catchment.

The project involves planting over thirty thousand plants to form a plant community that links nationally recognised reserve communities in an integrated network. The plantation will become an ecosystem in its own right, one which captures carbon from the atmosphere through biosequestration.

Mr Duddles said the nationally significant project will also demonstrate and trial new methods of establishing biodiverse plantings of local native tree and understory species in the dry agricultural landscapes of the Derwent Valley.

“What makes this project significant is that each and every plant is recorded in a database with GPS references and environmental information. As time passes monitoring information fed into the database will help build the knowledge of how to successfully restore Tasmania’s dry landscapes so that we learn as we go.

“Strategic reforestation on private land to buffer, helps reconnect and build resilience in the conservation estate (public and private), and to allow for the movement of species and genes (plants and animals) that is anticipated with climate change” Mr Duddles said.

Mr Duddles added research has indicated that degraded and unused farm land offers the greatest opportunity for rehabilitation and carbon sequestration, with the landowners involved having signed 130 year covenants with Greening Australia to allow access to 100ha for the project.

While the plant community is growing, reconnecting landscapes, capturing carbon and improving farm productivity the performance of the project will be monitored by collecting critical data such as:

• Soil carbon
• Soil moisture
• The performance of trees from different seed sources
• The success of different mixes of tree and understory species
• Biodiversity
• Expansion of the plantation species beyond trial sites

Mr Duddles said the project is funded via a state government, the Australia Research Council and the sale of carbon credits.

Mr Duddles added that so far leading Tasmanian businesses, Stornoway, Targa Tasmania, Pennicott Wliderness Journeys and Innkeepers Tasmania have all bought carbon credits.

“Many businesses are keen to start to build a carbon price into their balance sheet, however we have found that they want the money spent locally to benefit Tasmania’s environment.

“This project is fantastic because we are growing a carbon stockpile, rehabilitating a landscape and helping businesses get used to an emerging economic environment.” Mr Duddles concluded.

Questions and answers.

What are the foci of the project?

• Carbon sequestration and water use by vegetation
• The use of local native, versus more distant seed sources for restoration planting
• How the species envelopes for common native species in the dry landscapes of Tasmania will change under climate change.
• The survival and growth of different mixtures and designs of plantings for tree and understory species grown for carbon sequestration

What role will biosequestration have in the response to climate change?

• Biosequestration plays an important role in the mix of solutions for tackling climate change through strategic revegetation at a landscape scale. 

Why is revegetation important?

• Revegetation in dry landscapes sequesters a considerable amount of carbon

• Biodiverse revegetation offers the ability to buffer and reconnect native vegetation on farms is a critical adaption strategy to protect and build resilience in the private land conservation estate.

• Biodiverse revegetation on farms has long been regarded as an important strategy by farmers to improve the productive value of their properties through wind shelter, water filtration, soil stabilisation and now carbon storage.

• Undertaking strategic biodiverse reforestation doubles the outcome for the investment (mitigation and adaptation).

• We believe that undertaking strategic biodiverse reforestation rather than single species plantations will be more acceptable to rural communities.

What indications are there that the carbon market will be viable?

• Tasmanian landowners are embracing the opportunities to participate in the carbon market through reforestation of the less productive parts of their farms for multiple benefits.

• Tasmanian business are already offsetting their emissions and see this as an important part of their strategies to reduce their carbon emissions, while improving the ecological condition and productive value of Tasmanian landscapes.

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