Forest Owners Reap Benefits from Carbon Sale

A collection of South Island based forest owners and investors have recently concluded a landmark agreement for a European government to purchase forest carbon credits.

The deal was facilitated by Independent Forestry Services Ltd (IFS), a New Zealand based forest management and consulting company which has been at the forefront of the carbon market since its inception in New Zealand.

Carbon Business Manager Mike Mitchell said the deal was significant as it involved an aggregation of carbon credits from several private forest owners and investors.

The deal illustrated that the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme was working well for forest owners and provided some exciting opportunities for existing forest owners and those wishing to invest in forestry.

“It’s satisfying to facilitate access to the international carbon market for our clients, allowing them to benefit from the opportunities that carbon forestry presents.”

“Carbon credits are currently trading between NZ$16-NZ$20 per unit and we have secured a sale at the upper limits of this range.”

“Successful deals such as this represent the beginning of a significant ongoing income stream for forest owners.”

Mitchell says whilst this sale has been to a European buyer, he expects demand from domestic purchasers to increase over the coming months with domestic emitters coming into the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme from 1 July.

IFS will be looking to facilitate further aggregated sales of forestry credits throughout the year with a view to establishing long term purchase agreements for carbon credits sourced from its New Zealand wide client base.

IFS is a New Zealand based forest management and consulting company that provides a full forest management service that integrates traditional forest management with carbon management. They have been providing advice on carbon management to major New Zealand corporates, forest owners and overseas investors since the inception of the New Zealand carbon market.