Attended the Kemptville Focus Session - Landowner Incentive Workshop (Future Afforestation Program)

Attended the subject workshop and focus session. The material in interesting and provided me with considerable insight into the Kyoto Accord and the issues with carbon sequestration. The landowner incentive concepts that were being sought however did not seem too practical to me. In a nutshell the concept presented was about setting up partnerships between carbon consumers such as forest harvesting companies and oil companies with woodlot owners or potential “carbon storers”. The carbon consumer would contribute afforestation where a land is not reforested but rather converted from a non-forest ie farm or vacant land into forest, and in return the consumer would acquire “carbon credits” as a form of currency. I found it a difficult concept to adopt let alone comprehend. Why not just convert the “carbon credits” to dollars, which we all understand? This could be achieved through tax credits or penalties.

What complicates this idea is that not just forests lock-in carbon. According to a Ducks Unlimited Magazine article, swamps and marshes are also notable contributors to carbon and greenhouse gas sequestration.