Woodlot owners in New Brunswick could reap major financial rewards under the right cap and trade program for carbon according to Sackville-based organization Community Forests International.
There are 40,000 private woodlot owners in New Brunswick according to the CFI’s Dale Prest, who says these New Brunswickers could get credit for pulling more carbon out of the air and then trade that for money on the international market – he calls it a possible game-changer for the province’s rural communities.
“This is our competitive advantage in New Brunswick,” says Prest, “and the sooner we embrace that, and really seize this opportunity the sooner we can demonstrate to the world just how powerful our forests can be to fight climate change.”
The CFI says, based off of the work they’ve undertaken, that woodlot owners in this province could be able to sell $50-million worth of carbon credits into markets in North America starting 2018.
An actively managed forest is the best way to store carbon, Prest tells us — so you wouldn’t have to stop cutting trees when managing for carbon.
“On our woodlot that’s outside Sussex we’ve been able to sell $300,000 worth of carbon credits off of our 700 acres and we continue to harvest around a thousand tons of wood a year,” says Prest.
The CFI is currently working with various groups on this.
(Photo: Zach Melanson)
