Forestry assets have raked in more than $3 million for the Mackenzie District Council in the past year. Source: Stuff NZ
The sale of carbon credits has been the driving force behind the bumper profit, according to Forestry Board chairman Graham Smith.
In the year to June 2016, the council’s Forestry Board recorded an income of $3,505,684.
It recorded $69,403 in expenses, giving it an operating surplus of $3,436,281. That was in addition to the $1,353,086 the board already had in capital reserves.
“We’ve had a very, very successful result from forestry this year,” Smith said.
The board had “two sides” to its work now- logging and carbon credits, he said.
He believed the board was “sitting on” about $2 million worth of carbon credits. It would likely sell off about $400,000 worth of credits each year, he said.
“What the Forestry Board is saying is that we need to be sustainable in our forestry.”
While the council’s forestry assets had proved lucrative, there had been one hitch relating to a 37-hectare block of Muricata pine forest.
Earlier in the year, the board discussed harvesting the pine forest, near Lake Pukaki, early, and making the gently-sloping land made available for grazing.
