The Trust has convened the Banks Peninsula Native Forest/Climate Change group – a collaboration of organisations and agencies with knowledge of, an interest in and/or responsibility for the protection and enhancement of native biodiversity and landscapes on Banks Peninsula.
The group seeks to incentivise land use change and management decisions enhancing the outcomes for biodiversity while sequestering carbon on a significant landscape scale. We see the best way forward in the present environment is to make it easier for naturally regenerating forests to register under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and earn carbon credits.
We are grateful to MPI for meeting with the group in August 2019 and joining us on a field trip around Banks Peninsula to see the opportunities here, and discussing with us some of the current barriers to naturally regenerating areas joining the ETS.
The group has now made a substantial submission to the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme) Amendment Bill and associated Forestry Regulations and will be presenting to Select Committee Hearings.