Greenhouse effect
Forestry and agriculture in New Zealand are technologically advanced land uses, intensive in some instances, and reliant upon machinery and transportation systems using fossil fuels, which contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. Pastoral agriculture, through ruminant metabolism and plant decomposition, also contributes significantly to the emission of methane, another greenhouse gas.
As carbon sinks, natural forests have a neutral effect with carbon sequestration balanced by carbon released back into the atmosphere through the decay of wood. Natural forests are a reservoir in which greenhouse gases are stored. New planted forests are carbon sinks where greenhouse gases are removed from the atmosphere. New Zealand’s planted forests store on average 100 tonnes of carbon per hectare (based on a 30-year radiata pine rotation), and provide an opportunity to increase New Zealand’s carbon reservoir.
Contact for Enquiries
MAF Information Services
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526
Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
Fax: +64 4 894 0721
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