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Tourist Destination Qualifies for Carbon Credits – A New Zealand First

Tuesday 7 June 2011, 1:34PM

By Thornton Communications Limited

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Development of the Waitakaruru Arboretum
Development of the Waitakaruru Arboretum Credit: University of Waikato

WAIKATO

In a significant ruling, a Waikato Sculpture Park has earned the right to sell carbon credits.

After a lengthy application process, the 17.5 hectare (42 acre) Sculpture Park @ Waitakaruru Arboretum in Scotsman Valley is the first tourist destination in New Zealand to achieve status as a permanent Forest Sink.

The PCSI scheme to which the Park now belongs, enables owners John & Dorothy Wakeling to not only sell carbon credits, but also ensures long-term protection of the forest through a covenant on its title. The contribution from the sale of carbon credits will assist the Park’s long-term maintenance, including further planting as replacements for any trees felled.

To lodge their application with MAF, the Park’s owners worked closely with University of Waikato GIS specialists in particular, Dr. Lex Chalmers, who was instrumental in assisting them to map the various types of trees at the Park. Carbon credits are allocated by forest type: exotic hardwoods, exotic softwoods, Pinus radiata and indigenous vegetation, each of which score differently in the carbon credit regime.

The Wakeling’s successful bid to qualify for carbon credits is the culmination of more than 20 years of hard slog and tenacity. In that time, they have transformed what was an abandoned quarry and industrial wasteland into a lush arboretum of national significance; New Zealand’s very own ‘Eden Project’. They have now planted in excess of 18,000 native and exotic trees and plants on the site, some of which are rare and endangered in the wild. In 2004, they established a Sculpture Park to support emerging and established artists to display their sculpture in an environment unique within New Zealand.

The Wakeling’s long-term objective is to inspire more planting of trees and to achieve greater recognition for the Permanent Carbon Sink Initiative, as trees play a significant role in absorbing carbon and slowing the rate of climate change. Ideally, they would like to partner with a major organisation that needs to buy carbon credits and who can see the merit in what they are trying to achieve.


NOTES TO EDITORS:
The map (attached) which the University of Waikato made for the application graphically illustrates the areas assigned for type of vegetation and the carbon credit allocation for them. This map can be supplied upon request.

The Sculpture Park @ Waitakaruru Arboretum works closely with The Waikato Sculpture Trust, to provide a venue that is uniquely suitable for sculpture exhibitions. The Park has been the site for more than 20 sculpture exhibitions since it opened to the public in November 2004. The sculpture exhibitions in the Park are organised by the Trust Board.

John Wakeling works as a consultant arborist and is co-owner of The Sculpture Park @ Waitakaruru Arboreteum. He is also on the Board of The Waikato Sculpture Trust.

Dorothy Wakeling works as an independent commissioner in environmental planning and is co-owner of The Sculpture Park @ Waitakaruru Arboreteum. She is also on the Board of the Waikato Sculpture Trust.