While the coal burning factories of Europe and America were belching CO2 along with mercury and other heavy metals into the atmosphere, Aotearoa’s forest were being burnt and clear-felled to make way for the sheep that would help feed and clothe the “mother country” for the coming century.

Now an impressive coalition of environmental, farming, forestry and mana whenua groups are throwing their weight behind an ambitious proposal to reverse some of the ongoing damage caused by that deforestation. 

The Recloaking Papatūānuku project, soft launched by Pure Advantage and Tane’s Tree Trust in September, calls for the reforesting of 2.1 million hectares of indigenous forests over the next decade.

The project’s proposal document credits the seeds of the idea to “whānau living on highly erodible, flood-prone land in Tairāwhiti.”

Manu Caddie, a spokesperson for Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti, is looking at that flood prone whenua when Carbon News catches up with him at his home near Ruatorea by video call.

Mana Taiao is the group responsible for the government commissioning the Ministerial inquiry that led to the recently announced changes to exotic tree planting rules.

The group welcomed those changes. But, as it made clear in its submission to the inquiry, it believes permanent native forests are the only sustainable option to the region’s erosion prone land.

“I'm just looking out the window at 16,000 native seedlings that should be in the ground but for various reasons are sitting in the orchard drying out and hopefully not dying before next planting season,” Caddie says.

The land where the seedlings are destined to grow is a 130 hectare block whose 400 owners include his wife, Tarsh Koia, a trustee.

And the various reasons Manu refers to include 50 to 100 feral deer “jumping around”, flood damage to fencing which saw the neighbour’s cows gobble up 3000 seedlings planted last spring, and the sodden ground following the cyclones.

A quarter of Te Tairāwhiti covered in pines

In its submission, Mana Taio wrote: “Since the 19th century, deforestation in Te Tairāwhiti has impacted hills, river systems, and the marine environment, resulting in irreversible landscape changes and soil quality loss. A century of pastoral farming has resulted in a highly degraded environment. Exotic plantations, mostly Pinus radiata, began in the 1960’s and by 2018 occupied more than 188,000 hectares of the region.”

It’s an impressive document compiled with the help of more than 110 volunteers - including specialists from as far afield as the London School of Economics and Cambridge University.

It paints a picture - with copious scientific footnotes - of a highly unsustainable industry built on the destruction of the land.

“The pine plantation industry is desperate to make profits from carbon credits and preferably also timber. For nearly a decade, the industry has continued to claim that they can and will do clear-fell harvesting better. Nearly all the scientific studies, and recent experience in all the main catchments, however, suggest clear-felling on highly erosion-prone land is a dangerous idea,” the submission states.

Changing the economics of forestry

Economics continues to drive the industry with unofficial estimates recording 30,000 hectares of farm sales to pine plantations since 2021.

At its heart the Recloaking Papatūānuku proposal is about changing the economic equation that’s driving the planting of exotic forests on unsuitable land.

And a big part of that equation is the Emission Trading Scheme, which the proposal’s promoters claim favours fast growing exotics over natives.

“By adopting a short-term approach to carbon accrual, the ETS fails to recognise, and therefore secure, the much longer-term and enduring carbon yields that our indigenous forests deliver (aside from their multiple and superior co-benefits.)”

The proposal promotes what it calls a mosaic land use approach.

“Under this approach, the mixing, mingling and co-existence of a diverse palette of land uses at varying scales is supported over single use, single system, monocultural, and opportunities to interweave indigenous trees and forests with other land uses are encouraged.”

The initial proposal anticipates the reforestation and restoration of 2.1 million hectares but its promoters say there’s up to five million hectares of land with ecological potential to support large-scale reforestation or restoration.”

It’s a hugely ambitious proposal, but with New Zealand potentially facing a multi-billion dollar bill for offshore carbon credits to meet its Nationally Determined Contribution, it’s an idea that could see at least some of that money spent at home.

Political support for native planting

And that’s an idea with political appeal.

RNZ reported last week that Environment Minister David Parker thad said he was interested in exploring whether it could meet New Zealand's whole 2030 climate target.

The Labour Party is promising to commit $30 million from the Climate Emergency Response Fund - made up of proceeds from the ETS auctions - to plant, protect and restore indigenous forests on Department of Conservation Land.

Carbon News asked the political parties whether they supported forestry remaining in the ETS and whether they supported a biodiversity credit or some other mechanism to encourage the planting of native forests.

Labour responded: “Forestry supports New Zealand to help meet its climate change targets and emissions budgets by offsetting emissions. However, Labour is concerned about the extent of afforestation being driven by the ETS. The Prime Minister recently said in a speech that “we cannot offset our way out of the climate crisis.” We are consulting on options for how forestry is managed in the ETS.

“We support a system that rewards all kinds of biodiversity, and a public consultation is underway right now, looking at how a biodiversity credit system might work and what a good model would look like.”

The Greens said the ETS needed to be amended “to prevent an over reliance on forestry offsets, and to incentivise indigenous biodiversity for carbon sequestration. We will ensure there are strong controls on plantation forestry, including planting, management, and harvesting; and increase resourcing for monitoring, compliance, and enforcement of these controls.”

“The Green Party will ensure that the ETS includes all scientifically credible forms of sequestration, such as indigenous reforestation and restoring coastal wetlands, with capacity building to maximise the opportunity for nature-based solutions and biodiversity co-benefits, including dedicated support for Māori landowners.” 

And the Greens are keen on biodiversity credits. “We are proud to have kicked off the biodiversity credits and incentives and we are looking forward to the report back on the resent consultation.”

National said it was committed to forestry staying in the ETS and it “supports the planting of native afforestation.”

Act is promising to create a fund to support local government and communities protecting biodiversity, such as the work undertaken by the Queen Elizabeth II Trust and it supports leaving forestry in the ETS.

Te Pāti Māori, TOP and New Zealand First didn’t respond to the Carbon News questionnaire.

But NZ First with its signature One Billion Trees scheme it’s no stranger to ambitious tree planting projects.

However, in its submission to the ministerial inquiry, Mana Taiao said that as of February of this year less than 10% of the trees planted in the One Billion Trees scheme had been native, while millions of dollars of public money had flowed to private companies to plant tens of thousands of hectares in pine.

TOP is promising a “national system rewarding land-owners who regenerate marginal lanscapes for biodiversity, carbon sequestration and other environmental gains.”

Te Pāti Māori makes no mention of forestry in its climate change policy. But co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was quoted in an RNZ story last year saying that native forests were undoubtedly better Papatūānuku.

However she threw the party's weight behind a possible legal challenge by Maori forestry interests angered by a government proposal to remove exotics from the permanent forestry category of the ETS.

"There should have been a transition and an announcement concurrently by the minister to fund that transition, we're not saying that pines are the only option."