Although New Zealand’s native species are under threat from climate change, our natural environment can also make a huge contribution to the solutions to help combat climate change.
How native forests can fight climate change
To balance the amount of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere by emissions from transport, industry and agriculture, we need to store carbon in vegetation.
As plants grow they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it as carbon in their leaves, stems and roots. In New Zealand, two-thirds of all stored carbon is in the soil, and the remaining third is stored in vegetation. It is this third which we can effectively manage so that more carbon is stored.
Planted vegetation, such as plantation pine forests, crops and pasture, contain relatively little carbon. Native forests, which cover one third of New Zealand’s landmass or 7 million hectares, hold many times more carbon.
Compared hectare for hectare, our native forests store about three times as much carbon as pine forests do. Pine forests are regularly felled for harvest, so their carbon storage is repeatedly reduced to zero and only rebuilds as the forest regrows. The amount of carbon stored in native forest continues to accumulate year after year because they don’t get cut down. It also costs much less to restore and regenerate native forest than it does to plant and manage pine forests.
We need to look after our forests better
If we look after our forests better, we not only do a better job of protecting the amazing forest plants and animals, we also greatly enhance the ability of our forests to store carbon.
The natural balance of our forests is out of kilter because of the destructive effect of introduced pest species such as possums, deer, goats and pigs. These introduced pests degrade forest health by:
- Removing the most palatable species leaving just a narrow range of vegetation surviving
- Preventing new seedlings from regrowing to replace older trees as they die off, leaving a bare forest floor and understorey
- Causing die-off of mature trees by browsing the canopy
- Creating gaps in the canopy which make forest ecosystems vulnerable to damage by wind, rain and flooding in storms
- Taking food sources such as leaves and seeds that would otherwise feed native species
- If damage by pests is severe, it can lead to total collapse of forests.
Damage by pests also greatly reduces the ability of our forests to store carbon. We need possum control over 3.8 million hectares of land, and goat and deer control over 4.6 million ha, but pest control is carried out on just a fraction of that area. If we increased pest control, we would greatly increase the amount of carbon stored in our forests.
Since 1990, the amount of carbon stored in our native forests has increased by some 200 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
This period coincides with a significant increase in pest control, at a cost of $30 million a year. We could store an extra 85 million tonnes in the next five years at a cost of $22 million.
In comparison, the cost of purchasing emission units to offset New Zealand’s carbon emissions would cost more than $650 million.
The carbon stored in forest and shrubland managed by the Department of Conservation is worth more than $200 billion. Managing it effectively would cost just a tiny fraction of its value as a carbon store.
Clearly we should be managing the carbon storing potential of our forests more effectively if we want to combat climate change – and save millions of taxpayer dollars and protect our unique forest plants and animals. It’s a win-win-win situation.
Stronger international commitments
New Zealand must play a leading role in international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally.
Forest & Bird is asking the Government to set a target for New Zealand to reduce emissions by at least 40% from 1990 levels by 2020.
That figure has been identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, supported by the best scientific research, as the level of reduction in emissions which must be achieved by developed nations if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Unfortunately New Zealand is heading in the wrong direction – our greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 13.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents since 1990. We need to make changes if we are to succeed in reducing emissions.
Achieving a 40% reduction target would have long-term benefits for New Zealand, as it would help avert more frequent climate extremes such as droughts, storms and floods which threaten our agriculturally-based economy and our own wellbeing.
We also need to adopt a climate change agreement that recognises the contribution to emissions reduction made by management of native forests. Under the current framework, activities such as pest control and restoration of native forest which enhance carbon storing are not rewarded with carbon credits. This must change.
Agriculture must take greater responsibility
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Cow, Helen Bain
New Zealand is unusual among developed nations in that a high proportion of our greenhouse gas emissions are from agriculture. Emissions are produced by livestock, their effluent, and fertiliser used on farms. In 2007 agriculture produced 48% of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, making it the biggest single contributor as a sector.
Our agriculture sector must take greater responsibility and do more to reduce its impact on climate.
It should:
• Be included in New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme. Under the existing scheme, farmers won’t be included till 2015 (five years after energy, transport and industrial sectors) and after that will only be slowly phased in. This amounts to a massive taxpayer subsidy to the agriculture sector.
• Accept a system that provides incentives to agriculture and industry to take positive steps to reduce emissions (such as investing in technology or improving efficiency).
• Implement nutrient budgets on all farms. Fossil-fuel-based fertilisers used in agriculture produce nitrogen oxide which contributes to greenhouse emissions. Nutrient budgets ensure that fertiliser is used more efficiently, so produces less emissions.
• Reduce stocking rates. If dairy farms run fewer cows per hectare, less fertiliser is used, less effluent is produced and emissions are reduced.
• Increase investment in technology which reduces agricultural emissions. This could provide opportunities for New Zealand to be a world leader in producing solutions to this global problem.
• Make greater use of existing technology (such as nitrification inhibitors) that are proven to reduce emissions.
• Allow steep hill country to regenerate to natural vegetation, and avoid clearing forest to expand agriculture.
By engaging effectively on climate change, our agricultural sector will be more credible when promoting its sustainable, clean, green image, which will make it more resilient in international markets.
The right incentives to change
There are also plenty of things New Zealand can do to ensure that we have a framework that encourages people to take actions which help reduce emissions – and discourages polluters:
- A regulatory framework that provides clear incentives for the big emitters meet their fair share of responsibility, rather than require taxpayers to subsidise the cost of these sectors’ emissions.
- If we invest in more public transport, instead of spending more money on building new roads, we’ll reduce emissions from private vehicle use.
- Stricter rules on the fuel efficiency and emissions standards of cars, and investing in alternative fuels will also reduce vehicle emissions.
- Investment in improved household insulation, energy efficiency and solar water heating will help reduce the amount of power needed for our homes, so will reduce emissions from power generation.
- Changing to renewable means of power generation such as windpower, rather than carbon-burning generation such as coal or gas-fired power plants, will further reduce emissions from the energy sector.
- Providing incentives for reforestation, including restoration and management of native forests.
