The CFI is vague at best and fails to clarify whether monocultural plantings will be acceptable in the new climate. There has always been provision for biodiversity credits on Macquarie Bank's EnVex Climate Exchange. The market will drive value added biodiverse models at the expense of the mallee centric players. You watch them all list now.
Rust in a perennial species is costly to control because you have a permanent green bridge. 'Cheap' ($15/ha an application) triazole fungicides never control rust, they merely halt growth until the chemical's efficacy wears off. Movement of plants into WA is a mute point. A rust spore can be transported on the shirt of a tourist. In Queenslands case, the rust likely came in with Brazilian tourists.
Plenty of 15 year old mallee plantings died last year because of the extended drought and excessive stocking rates.
Another tax is exactly what this government likes putting out there. CCF's model utilises land anywhere in the landscape. The gutless sands you refer to are rarely in valleys susceptible to salinity. If you have sandplain catchment you have freshwater at the base of it, not salt water. We have 300 acres of beautiful crappy sand supplying us with potable water in the Central Wheatbelt. Salinity is no longer a problem for us in WA. Farmers are much better at turning water into a saleable commodity through increased fertilizer use and integration of perennial pasture species in high risk recharge areas. We have salt tolerant perennial grazing grasses such as puccinelia and tall wheat grass and saltbush is now a highly profitable option given sheep values. Saltland can be as valuable as cropping country.
The two listed mallee sink providers badly need to drop their focus on one specie. Auscarbon and Whisper are focussed on biodiverse plantings with sprinklings of sandalwood to value add the carbon asset. I subcontract to one of these companies on plantation design and product development.
My main interest in the tree carbon offset market extends to the provision of miniature shedding sheep breeds (Southdown/Persian crosses) from our farm for grazing of weeds and fire risk mitigation whilst minimising tree damage. We already have the grape industry and sandalwood plantation market over the line who shell out over $150/ha/year on herbicidal weed control. The market just expanded beyond our wildest dreams. I learned a long time ago you have align yourself with these crooks in Canberra ...
Still maintain today was a sell the fact day ... good luck in any case.
CCF Price at posting:
34.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
