A regenerating native bush block owned by former Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown is not only providing biodiversity and a haven for birds, it's also generating income in the form of carbon credits. "Carbon credits will enable us to establish tracks and more traps, a professional propagation nursery and speed up regeneration. Z Energy paid a premium on the market price for the carbon credits as these were permanent forests with ecological benefits, Ward said. New national environmental standards to prevent plantation forestry on erosion-prone land would also further encourage planting of permanent forests. Proposed ETS rule changes removed the liability risk of having to pay back carbon credits as trees aged and blew over, if the forest was replanted.

Source: Stuff February 13, 2019 03:32 UTC