Last Monday a guide book to forest carbon sinks called The Carbon Forest was launched in Wellington. Rod Oram was the key speaker, and explained brilliantly how forests are important for sustainable land use (ie, preventing top soil loss) and New Zealand’s Kyoto obligations. Rod described The Carbon Forest book as “An ‘owner’s manual’ that will prove invaluable for people who want to use forestry to improve the economic and environmental performance of their land.”
Simon Johnson, Paul Kennett, Jonathan Kennett, Rod Oram, and Tom Bennion.
The idea for the book came from Paul Kennett, who, after reducing his annual carbon footprint to one tonne, was then looking at ways of offsetting the rest. Forest carbon sinks appealed, and so he started researching the possibilities. Jonathan Kennett and Simon Johnson, from Project Rameka, are both co-authors, along with environmental lawyer Tom Bennion.
Project Rameka is among several case studies that are used to show the broad range of carbon sinks in New Zealand.
The book can be purchased for $30 from www.kennett.co.nz or from independent book stores.