Forestry Carbon Credits
Some of the carbon credits that Carbon Planet retails come from the Forests NSW carbon pool.
Forests NSW was the first creator of carbon credits from a tree sequestration project in the world. (See Forest NSW for details).
About the Forest NSW Carbon Pools
There are 32 individual forests that make up the accredited Carbon Pool. These are located in northeastern New South Wales (NSW) Australia, ranging from Taree to the Queensland border.
The forests are comprised of 13 different hardwood species that occur naturally in northeastern NSW. However four main species predominate; spotted gum (Corymbia maculata/variegata), Dunn's white gum (Eucalyptus dunnii), blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis) and flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis). Most forests contain at least three different species of trees, while some have up to eight different species. The average area of each forest is around 300 hectares. The gross area of a typical Forests NSW hardwood plantation block is often double that of its net planted area, as existing areas of native forest and riparian vegetation are retained for environmental purposes around and within the plantation. (Source: Forests NSW Publication An Overview of Forests NSW Carbon Pool Accredited Abatement Certificate Providers in Carbon Sequestration under the NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme).
Forests NSW NGAC Carbon Credits
Some of the carbon credits that Carbon Planet offers come from the New South Wales Government's forestry agency tree sequestration projects. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it as carbon.
Forests NSW may sell one carbon credit for each tonne of carbon dioxide that it removes from the atmosphere. This means that when you purchase one carbon credit from Carbon Planet, you are ensuring that one tonne of carbon dioxide you contribute is being removed from the atmosphere. The carbon is stored in trees where it can no longer impact on the Greenhouse Effect.
Forest NSW NGACs
The New South Wales Greenhouse Abatement Certificate (NGAC) certification process is comprehensive. It includes Kyoto Protocol measures, but goes beyond these. In summary the NGAC certification process ensures the following:
- That each NGAC represents one tonne of carbon dioxide stored for at least 100 years.
- That the trees have been planted since 1990.
- That the trees weren't planted on old growth forest cleared land (the land must have been clear prior to 1990).
- That should the tree from which your carbon credit came come to any harm within 100 years of your purchase eg. Fire, disease, logging; that carbon credit will be replaced immediately from another source.