......The Post is blinkered when reporting on which Maori (no, not all of them) may suffer from carbon plan
Oh, dear. Our Maori people are being dealt another blow.
That’s the impression given by the headline on an article in The Post headed Carbon plan ‘damaging to Maori”.
The report by Glenn McConnell says the Government is about to release controversial plans to reform the carbon market,
“… which have already led to legal challenges and comparisons to the foreshore and seabed saga.”
What’s this struggle about?
A major legal battle has sparked up between the Government and Maori forestry companies over proposals to stop pine trees from earning carbon credits, which are then cashed in through the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Oh. The carbon plan is not “damaging to Maori” , as the headline would have us believe – it is upsetting for Maori forestry companies.
Does this mean non-Maori forestry companies are supporting the proposals?
McConnell hasn’t pursued that line of inquiry, but the Otago Daily Times today features an article which suggests maybe they are no less upset than the Maori companies.
The article was triggered by Forestry Minister Peeni Henare’s announcement that local councils are being empowered to decide which land could be used for production forestry and carbon forests through the resource consent process.
The forestry folk were riled:
Tightening of rules around farm-to-forestry conversions will result in New Zealand failing to reach its climate change target by 2050, Forest Owners Association president Grant Dodson believes.
He drew attention to the Climate Change Commission’s emissions reduction plan, saying it championed the forestry and wood processing sector as the vehicle for reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“Offsetting is a necessary part of land use change and forests are the only tool we have at present to achieve those offsets. Without expansion of forests, reaching carbon zero won’t be possible,” he said.
Peeni Henare said the forestry sector was important to local economies, contributing more than $6.5billion annually and providing more than 35,000 jobs.
But large-scale changes in land use for exotic carbon forestry, if left unchecked and without any management oversight or requirements, had the potential for unintended impacts on the environment, rural communities, and regional economies.
Operational changes proposed to the forestry standards regarding slash provisions, sediment control and harvest management plans would start to improve the environmental impacts.
The Government was also redesigning the permanent forest category with a goal of enabling a successful transition from exotic species to indigenous forests.
That’s a reference to the plan to reform the carbon market which is at issue in McConnell’s report.
With Climate Change Minister James Shaw getting ready to seek public views on these proposals, a Maori forestry group, Te Taumata, is promising more legal action and to bring a case at the Waitangi Tribunal.
It’s an issue which stems from the confiscation of pastoral land from Maori, leaving most Maori with hilly unproductive lands.
Hmm. Taking their battle to the Waitangi Tribunal is something the non-Maori forestry companies can’t do.
But wait.
It looks like the Waitangi Tribunal will be hearing from Maori on the other side of the forestry carbon issue.
McConnell didn’t mention Maori being divided, which raises questions about a headline that says “Carbon plan ‘damaging to Maori’.”
But The Spinoff has reported on the matter in an article headed The real reason Māori are on both sides of the tangled pine forest debate.
The writer, Nadine Anne Hura, had learned from news reports that
“… which have already led to legal challenges and comparisons to the foreshore and seabed saga.”
What’s this struggle about?
A major legal battle has sparked up between the Government and Maori forestry companies over proposals to stop pine trees from earning carbon credits, which are then cashed in through the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Oh. The carbon plan is not “damaging to Maori” , as the headline would have us believe – it is upsetting for Maori forestry companies.
Does this mean non-Maori forestry companies are supporting the proposals?
McConnell hasn’t pursued that line of inquiry, but the Otago Daily Times today features an article which suggests maybe they are no less upset than the Maori companies.
The article was triggered by Forestry Minister Peeni Henare’s announcement that local councils are being empowered to decide which land could be used for production forestry and carbon forests through the resource consent process.
The forestry folk were riled:
Tightening of rules around farm-to-forestry conversions will result in New Zealand failing to reach its climate change target by 2050, Forest Owners Association president Grant Dodson believes.
He drew attention to the Climate Change Commission’s emissions reduction plan, saying it championed the forestry and wood processing sector as the vehicle for reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“Offsetting is a necessary part of land use change and forests are the only tool we have at present to achieve those offsets. Without expansion of forests, reaching carbon zero won’t be possible,” he said.
Peeni Henare said the forestry sector was important to local economies, contributing more than $6.5billion annually and providing more than 35,000 jobs.
But large-scale changes in land use for exotic carbon forestry, if left unchecked and without any management oversight or requirements, had the potential for unintended impacts on the environment, rural communities, and regional economies.
Operational changes proposed to the forestry standards regarding slash provisions, sediment control and harvest management plans would start to improve the environmental impacts.
The Government was also redesigning the permanent forest category with a goal of enabling a successful transition from exotic species to indigenous forests.
That’s a reference to the plan to reform the carbon market which is at issue in McConnell’s report.
With Climate Change Minister James Shaw getting ready to seek public views on these proposals, a Maori forestry group, Te Taumata, is promising more legal action and to bring a case at the Waitangi Tribunal.
It’s an issue which stems from the confiscation of pastoral land from Maori, leaving most Maori with hilly unproductive lands.
Hmm. Taking their battle to the Waitangi Tribunal is something the non-Maori forestry companies can’t do.
But wait.
It looks like the Waitangi Tribunal will be hearing from Maori on the other side of the forestry carbon issue.
McConnell didn’t mention Maori being divided, which raises questions about a headline that says “Carbon plan ‘damaging to Maori’.”
But The Spinoff has reported on the matter in an article headed The real reason Māori are on both sides of the tangled pine forest debate.
The writer, Nadine Anne Hura, had learned from news reports that
- The government was planning to exclude pine trees from earning credits under the permanent forest category of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS); but
- a number of Māori were upset and warned that this move could potentially breach the Treaty.
Hura’s reference was to a Stuff report which said an opportunity for Māori landowners to earn billions by planting exotic trees might be stripped away by the Government.
This report said “some forestry experts” argued this would be a breach of trust and the Treaty of Waitangi.
They were prepared to take the fight over rights to court.
But:
On the other side, other Māori communities argue the long-term consequences of mass pine planting – on native flora and fauna, and jobs – mean the Government was right to re-think its policy and put limits on planting pine. Future generations will be grateful for limits on exotic forests, they believe
The headline in The Post today – Carbon plan ‘damaging to Maori’ – might be more balanced by saying Carbon plan divisive to Maori.
But it’s divisive among non-Maori too.
Good business for lawyers who thrive on Waitangi Tribunal cases, however.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
The headline in The Post today – Carbon plan ‘damaging to Maori’ – might be more balanced by saying Carbon plan divisive to Maori.
But it’s divisive among non-Maori too.
Good business for lawyers who thrive on Waitangi Tribunal cases, however.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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