Suky Thompson, on behalf of the Banks Peninsula Native Forest Climate Change group, presented an oral submission, via video conference, to the Environment Subcommittee in Wellington, when submitters had the opportunity to share their views on the Resource Management Amendment Bill and the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Reform) Amendment Bill on 10 February, 2020.
With Suky were other group members Hugh Wilson and Bruce Hansen Trustees from Hinewai Reserve, Alice Shanks QEII National Trust, and Maree Burnett Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust. Joining also by video were Larry Burrows, Forest Ecologist Manaaki Whenua, Laura Molles, Christchurch City Council, and Helen Greenep from Environment Canterbury.
The group saw a huge opportunity for biodiversity enhancement and carbon sequestration to work together by encouraging landowners to change their land management on marginal land from grazing to regeneration, with a potential income for them by doing so.
Group members have been pooling their knowledge to form a submission that includes ideas to better clarify the existing legislation, which is currently aimed more at planted forests and not naturally regenerating areas. They would like to see regenerating native forest encouraged by the Emissions Trading Scheme however the Amendment Bill does not achieve this in its current state, as registering naturally regenerating areas is not straightforward at this stage. The suggestion of a Perpetual Indigenous Forest category was put forward in the submission.
You can read the groups oral submission HERE or THIS LINK will take you to video of the Select Committee hearings. If you forward the time slider on to around 1:41:51 you will get to the start of the groups oral submission.