Carbon Methodological Issues
- "I would like to see greater emphasis put on the difficulties of measuring and monitoring, not only for plantation forests (including how pruning and thinning are accounted for when they occur during the commitment period) but also for the more difficult measurement of carbon uptake by abandonment of marginal pastures."
- "Sequestered carbon is easily measured using an average basis derived from sample plots."
- "Aerial or satellite imagery should be sufficient by itself. The trade-off between accuracy and cost is accepted."
- "Annual assessment of carbon sequestered is a better way of measurement than a pre-sold rotation amount."
- "If credits/debits are to go to forest growers, it is important to know how much carbon is involved. This is less likely to be an issue for those claiming credits. The debit side involving deforestation to another land-use is another issue altogether."
- "How do you propose to estimate baseline carbon stocks so that you can determine management impacts? Does this mean that a farmer thinking about a 30 year rotation that then harvests on a price spike after 25 years, or leaves the crop for 35 years has to lower/raise the credits available? In other words, is rotation age a key component of the 'management'?
- "Forest mapping and record keeping will be important in measuring, monitoring and reporting forest carbon sinks, especially over the commitment period. Because forestry is of secondary importance to most farmers' main source of income, and because many will not have excellent (or verifiable) records, there looms a considerable cost to prove carbon sequestration rates on these landowners forests."
Contact for Enquiries
MAF Information Services
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526
Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
Fax: +64 4 894 0721
Contact this person
