Carbon sink plans sunk by stalling of emission plan TREE-planting schemes and other carbon-offset projects could be abandoned by organisations at the end of the month, another casualty of the federal government's delayed emissions trading scheme.
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Carbon rules make sequestration hard to trackFARMERS are managing an enormous amount of carbon in their landscapes, but get very little credit for the fact under the current Kyoto greenhouse gas accounting rules.
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Australia increases both Eucalyptus and pine chip exports
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Work on AU$2B SA mill by mid-2011 or just Pulp fiction?The AU$2 billion Penola Pulp Mill project in South Australia, shelved during the global recession, has been revitalized since The Commonwealth Bank recently came on board to help raise capital costs for the 750,000 tonnes/year mill, The Advertiser reported on 5 July.
The bank is also helping Greg Boulton, chairman of the company behind the project, and CEO Don Matthews to raise AU$20 million to finalize the design and lock down contracts, the paper reports.
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Green toilet paper that is kind to your backsideEvery flush of your loo affects our environment and while low-flush toilets have helped some households save 35000 litres of water a year, it took an Eastern Suburbs man to tackle the toilet-paper dilemma.
Saved A Tree co-founder Damien Scarf, a Vaucluse resident, said global toilet-paper use destroys 27,000 trees every day but his company had found a way to make a loo roll without it costing the earth.
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Pay the tropics to reverse deforestationAMONG THE MANY NASTY things that humans are doing to the environment, few rank worse than destroying tropical forests. Rainforests sustain an astonishing diversity of species and keep our planet liveable by limiting soil erosion, reducing floods, maintaining natural water cycles, and stabilising the climate. Yet roughly 10 million hectares of tropical forest are destroyed every year – the equivalent of 50 football fields a minute.
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CarbonSmart goes up in smokeA PIONEERING attempt to provide landholders with a new income stream through forestry offsets, Landcare CarbonSmart, has fallen foul of the Canberra stalemate over emissions regulation.
Set up by Landcare Australia Limited, in part to help landholders put in smaller biodiverse plantings that could provide a carbon credits income stream, CarbonSmart has been killed off because the forestry offsets market and regulatory environment failed to mature as expected.
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Why isn't Australia keen on 'woody biomass'The former Rudd Government's Emissions Trading Scheme has been all but swept under the carpet, with neither Julia Gillard's government or the Opposition committing to such a scheme.
If or when the idea of a carbon tax returns to Australian politics, there's one form of renewable energy that many in Australia's forestry industry want government to consider.
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Australia mulls foreign-linked carbon offset schemeThe Australian government is proposing to allow foresters and farmers to create carbon offset credits for international sale into foreign emissions trading markets. Prime Minister Julia Gillard launched the policy on the weekend, part of campaigning ahead of a federal election on August 21.
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Let's get serious about soil carbonPOLITICIANS of all persuasions have had a hard time being nice to farmers in ways that don’t upset larger, more vociferous and vindictive sections of the voting public.
In this campaign, they seem to have discovered the key: carbon!
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Groups oppose genetically engineered eucalyptus treesEnvironmentalists are challenging the plans of a S.C.-based biotechnology firm to grow genetically engineered eucalyptus trees in the South, saying the fast-growing Australian species could spread uncontrollably.
ArborGen LLC won federal permits in May to plant 330 acres of a eucalyptus hybrid in South Carolina and six other states. The test sites include Marlboro County, S.C., about 75 miles southeast of Charlotte.
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New Zealand's sheep farmers are flocking to a government carbon trading program that pays more to plant trees than sell wool and mutton.
The system, begun in 2008 and the only one of its kind outside Europe, awards farmers credits that are sold to offset greenhouse gas emissions. The project may earn them about $NZ600 a hectare ($193 per acre) a year on land unprofitable for grazing animals, said David Evison, a senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury's New Zealand School of Forestry.
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Australia firm signs Congo carbon offsets deal(Reuters) - An Australian carbon services firm has signed a deal aimed at protecting tropical forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as boosting renewable energy there, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
Shift2Neutral and its partners would help value the carbon storage from forest and land protection, certify carbon related services to communities in the DRC and help sell certified carbon offsets.
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ECO2 Forests Global Forestry Plan Expands to Biomass for Renewable EnergyBOULDER, CO and QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, Sep 20, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- ECO2 Forests Inc. () today announced the addition of Biomass for Renewable Energy Power Generation to the products to be derived from Kiri Tree forest operations.
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Big new tax only option, Abbott told
TREASURY has repudiated Tony Abbott's direct action approach to climate change.
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On 1 July this year NCOS came into effect. [1] It is designed to give Australian businesses, particularly farm businesses, opportunities to develop offset credits for voluntary carbon markets.
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Australia - MIS investors more hopefulThe future looks more promising for plantations in Australia’s collapsed management investment scheme (MIS) programs as reputable timber groups take on management and investors consider buying the timberland, or in some cases the land and its trees, The Australian reported on 18 September.
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Avoiding Deforestation and Rewarding Forestry InvestmentA new project methodology – developed by Australia’s Carbon Planet – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through Improved Forest Management has successfully completed a first independent assessment under the VCS Methodology Approval Process.
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Seems some dispute on forestry is ongoing in DownUnder and SE-Asia...
William Laurance et al | October 27, 2010
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Australia - Illegal logging legislation welcomedA3P has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, that the Gillard Government will introduce legislation restricting the importation and sale of illegally logged timber.A3P CEO Richard Stanton said “we are gratified that the Governm
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Alternative way to sustain the forestsIF you hear the term sustainable forestry, you may well associate it with tree plantations.
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Two forestry companies in Western Australia sold
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Giving the imbalance in wood demand the chop
A new inquiry can find solutions to many Australian forestry industry problems.
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Land management change urgently needed: Jeffery
AN urgent imperative exists to change how the Australian landscape is managed, for food security and climate change reasons, especially farmland, according to former Governor General, Major-General Michael Jeffery.
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Australia can meet carbon targets by land offsets: report
A new report on Thursday said Australia can meet its carbon emissions target by doing nothing more than claiming offsets from re-vegetation of cleared land, regional forest agreements and ending logging of native forests.
Australia has set its target of a 5 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2020, and the study said the federal government has deliberately underestimated these land offsets to justify a weak target in international negotiations.
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Farmers scratch surface on carbon
'This could really take off,'' said Ross Garnaut this week, releasing his latest update paper on Transforming Rural Land Use. ''This could be seriously big.''
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What forestry can do for climate change policy
Growing trees is nature’s way of absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. So most would assume that the forest industry would be front and centre of the government’s climate change policy. They’d be wrong.
The government’s carbon price to be introduced from July 2012 will rightly focus on the big emitters but will provide next to no incentives for growth in Australia’s sustainable forest industry – which absorbs and stores carbon from the atmosphere.
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Australian structural softwood product prices stable
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Revealed: scandal of carbon credit firm A SYDNEY carbon credits company thought to have been running some of the world's biggest offsets deals appears to be a fake, shifting paper certificates instead of saving forests and cutting greenhouse emissions.
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A PROPOSAL to keep Tasmania's native forests standing in exchange for billions in carbon credits has been rejected by the State Government, Liberal Opposition and Forestry Tasmania.
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Gunns dips despite $10m mill sale THE reshaping of Tasmania's forests industry is set to reach a milestone with the sale of a strategic Gunns woodchip mill.
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Forester Gunns to sell softwood forests in Australia's Green Triangle
Australian timber group Forester Gunns is to sell some of its softwood forests for AU$107 million (£69 million).
The sale to a US-based timber investment management organisation includes 46,000ha with pine trees in the Green Triangle region of South Australia, with Forester Gunns retaining some harvesting rights to the plantations.
It is understood that the deal is subject to the buyer securing finance and other customary approvals. Forester Gunns has declined to provide further details about the agreement or the buyer.
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Macquarie, IFC agree forest carbon investment fund(Reuters) - Australia's Macquarie Group , World Bank member the International Finance Corp and a forest management firm said on Thursday they had raised $25 million for forest carbon projects in poorer nations.
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Tough times ahead for Australian housing construction Posted on July 8th, 2011Both the Housing Industry Association (HIA) and Master Builders Australia (MBA) have just released reports on the gloomy forecasts for the Australian building and construction industry, particularly in the residential sector.
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2012 Forestry Finance event call for presentationsThe Forest Industry Engineering Association together with most of the major financial and forestry industry associations in Australia and New Zealand ran an inaugural Future Forestry Finance Conference series in Sydney and Auckland in early March 2010. The turnout exceeded expectations.
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Peru's jungle city of Iquitos - first established on the myth of a land of lost gold and once a mecca for 19th century rubber barons - has long been frequented by profiteers.
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Carbon credit firm collapses amid tax debate A company that specialises in forestry carbon credit projects in Asia, the Pacific Islands and Australia has collapsed.
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Hunting for Answers: Well-managed Production Forests Important for Biodiversity Though a hunter’s preference for large game can put pressure on fragile forest ecosystems, new research has found that well-managed production forests can act as wildlife reservoirs- with controlled hunting in these areas enabling the promotion of biodiversity and improved community livelihoods.
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Warning on Ta Ann practicesA MALAYSIAN parliamentarian has visited Tasmania's native forests with a warning over timber company Ta Ann's business operations in his home country.
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Forest certification: a small step towards sustainabilityIt can be hard to know whether the forest products you buy have been produced sustainably. Forestry certifications were established to give a bit more certainty, but what do they really mean? When you buy a certified product, are you necessarily helping the environment?
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End logging to cut carbon: studyAustralia could meet almost half of its 5 per cent greenhouse reduction target by ending logging of native forests, according to a new economic study.
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Stop the Indonesia-Australia REDD+ project‘Custom Keepers’ in a district of Kalimantan are calling on the Indonesian president to stop a carbon-offset project in in the customary lands of the Dayak people.
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Finnish sawmill machinery for Australian millIn January 2012, HewSaw will deliver a HewSaw SL250 TRIO sawing line to Bombala in New South Wales on the southeast coast of Australia. The agreement was signed on 29th April 2011. The construction work will begin in August 2011, and the project is scheduled to finish in December 2012.
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Devil in detail of carbon farming planLABOR'S carbon farming initiative (CFI) has passed in the Senate but agricultural groups remain sceptical of its worth until details are made available.
Under the scheme, graziers could sell carbon credits on to businesses to offset emissions.
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Study clears forestry smokeA study commissioned by Forestry Tasmania shows that 80 per cent of emissions in Tasmania's Huon Valley is from woodheaters, not regeneration burns.
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Australia passes national carbon trading scheme for agriculture, forestry
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Time to fell obstacles to tracing wood productsThere is a massive re-rating of native forest going on, even as world resolve to tackle climate change crumbles.
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Gunns : Forest Agreement NegotiationsTasmania, Australia, Aug 18, 2011 - Gunns Limited Managing Director, Mr Greg L'Estrange, today welcomed the Tasmanian Government's decision to appoint a probity auditor to review Gunns' contracts but sought assurances that the process would be expedited to end the onerous uncertainty the decision has created.
Mr L'Estrange said the transparency that an audit process should bring was welcomed but was concerned with recent comments made about Gunns involvement in the Forest Agreements process.
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Old-growth forests won't save planet IN AUSTRALIA, too often we're told the solution to all environmental problems is locking all native forests in unmanaged reserves, where they'll be immortal, grow forever and continuously suck large amounts of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
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Landmark conservation buy gives to indigenous ownersIn a landmark, first-of-its kind, acquisition for conservationists a global conservation group has led the purchase of Fish River Station, a former cattle station in the Northern Territory, and is to hand it back to indigenous traditional owners.
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Factbox: Australia-Norway plan to rescue U.N. climate talks(Reuters) - Australia and Norway have crafted a proposal they hope will get troubled global climate talks back on track and win agreement on a broader climate pact by 2015.
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Researcher selected for groundbreaking forests studyThe Minister for Climate Change, Cassy O’Connor today announced CO2 Australia Limited as the successful consultant who will carry out groundbreaking research into the carbon stored in Tasmania’s forests.
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Plantation plan is the key to future growth, says inquiryThe Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Resources, Fisheries & Forestry has issued the findings of its inquiry into the forestry sector.
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Carbon Forestry 2012 planned for AustralasiaWhat a year it’s been for those involved in carbon markets. A raft of new legislation, a jump followed by a dramatic drop-off in carbon pricing and then a slow-down in trading.
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Landholders rush to establish carbon forests Landholders spiralling interest in carbon forests has resulted in CO2 Australia investing an estimated $23.3 million in rural economies during 2011 and partnering with more than 300 farming families.
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Forest waste plan slammedA plan to make native forest waste eligible for renewable energy credits has angered the North Coast Environment Council
A peak north coast environmental group has slammed a plan to give renewable energy status to native forest waste used to fuel power stations.
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Tasmanian forest deal on the rocksTONY EASTLEY: When the Prime Minister and the Tasmanian Premier signed a forestry agreement last year it appeared that an end was in sight to the protracted and bitter Tasmanian forestry debate.
This morning however the deal would appear to be in tatters.
Felicity Ogilvie reports from Hobart.
FELICITY OGILVIE: The timber company Ta Ann's announcement that it will cut up 40 jobs as a result of environmental groups lobbying against it has thrown the Tasmanian forest peace deal into disarray.
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UN support for soil carbonTHE United Nations has thrown its support behind soil carbon, but Australian attempts to create a market mechanism to reward the building of soil carbon reserves are still mired in complexity.
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Forests agency sued for loggingSTATE-OWNED timber agency VicForests has been hit with court action by the Environment Department after it allegedly logged protected rainforest.
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New Forests Leads Purchase of 46,000 Hectare Australian Softwood PlantationFunds managed by New Forests have taken a controlling interest in the 46,000 hectare Auspine estate. New Forests' Australia New Zealand Forest Fund is the lead investor in the transaction, which includes the land and trees of the 64-property estate, formerly owned and managed by Gunns Limited.
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Australian REDD #Fail in Indonesia's Kalimantan forestsThe $100 million dollar scheme was launched in 2007, but nearly five years on, less than a third of that amount has been committed and the projects targets have been drastically reduced.
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Melbourne eyes Tassie forest investmentCity Council could invest in Tasmanian forest plantations protected from harvesting in an effort to become Victoria's first carbon-neutral council.
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Large scale carbon forestry planting underwayPLANTING of more than 10,000 hectares of mallee eucalypt trees is now underway as part of one fo the largest carbon forestry projects in Australia.
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Forest Management Plan proves controversialTHE state government's newly released Forest Management Plan (FMP) has proved controversial among conservation and green groups.
Conservation Council WA (CCWA) president Piers Verstegen said the government's next forest management plan will be a death sentence to endangered animals.
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Australia: Carbon Forestry Landscape ChangingCarbon forestry investments in New Zealand and Australia have taken a blow from the combined effects of legislative uncertainty and the depressed prices for carbon based on Euro problems, but the sector remains cautiously optimistic.
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World’s tallest timber high rise building in MelbourneThe city of Melbourne has been revealed as the location for an architectural world first. New plans were unveiled last Friday showing that the city will receive a unique addition to its iconic skyline - the world’s tallest timber high-rise building.
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Logs from Australia plantations set to growLog supply from Australia’s timber plantations is set to increase substantially according to a new report, released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).
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Uncertain future for international forest schemeWith deforestation responsible for around 18 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it seemed, on the surface, to be an easy, cheap way to get some quick wins on the climate change board.
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Tough times continue for sawn timber in AustraliaThe tough market for sawn timber is expected to continue over the next 15 months. Australian producers face increased pressure from imports as a result of the high Australian dollar and a global surplus of timber.
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Australian lumber market quiet for NZ lumberhe Australian lumber market remains subdued due to limited building activity. This market is not expected to rebound in the short-term, therefore should not be relied upon by NZ lumber exporters.
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South Australia - SA forests sold to The Campbell GroupThe South Australian state government has agreed to sell the South East timber harvesting rights to a consortium led by The Campbell Group (TCG) for an undisclosed amount. Backed by Australia’s Future Fund, the U.S.
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Temporary threat for Australian sawn timber producersThe Australian sawn timber industry is experiencing a temporary threat from imports as a result of a strong dollar and a global surplus of timber following the Global Financial Crisis, according to independent economic forecaster and industry analyst, BIS Shrapnel.
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Origin drops forestry deal amid carbon worries
Origin Energy has quit $133 million worth of options for forestry projects in Australia amid fears that the price of carbon will plunge, according to The Australian Financial Review.
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Australia - New Forests to purchase Gunns millsNew Forests announced yesterday that it has completed an agreement to purchase Gunns’ sawmilling, sales, and distribution business from the Receiver, KordaMentha. New Forests will acquire all the assets of Gunns Timber Products (GTP), including the Bell Bay and Tarpeena sawmills.
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Australian logging company Gunns goes into liquidation
Collapsed Australian timber company Gunns, which gained notoriety for its repeated clashes with environmentalists, has been placed into liquidation.
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