Community News

COUNTY FORESTS MAY PROVIDE CASH FLOW WITH CARBON OFFSET

'WE HAVE KNOWN FOR SOME TIME THERE'S POTENTIAL'

JANIS RAMSAY jramsay@simcoe.com

There may be more green in our county forests than we know.

Simcoe County council has asked for a staff report looking into the potential to cash in on something called a carbon credit.

"We know our county forests benefit us with air quality, wildlife habitat and significant social benefits," Simcoe County forester Graeme Davis said. "We have known for some time there's potential for forested properties (to benefit carbon offsets)."

Worldwide, private industries are looking at ways to increase carbon sequestration, he said, referring to processes to capture and store carbon dioxide to reduce global warming. It can be done naturally with forests and wetlands, or artificially through a mechanical process, which either turns carbon into a form of charcoal or stores it underground in reservoirs.

"Our forests absorb a significant amount of emissions every year," Davis said, noting the county owns more than 33,000 acres.

And some companies are looking to get to net-zero emissions, but know they can't reduce their carbon output to zero.

"They're looking to put a different type of value on forested lands, and that's what we're investigating."

Davis said there is already a carbon market. For example, if someone buys a plane ticket from a company that has a netzero plan, the company has purchased a carbon credit from somewhere else.

"The more healthy forests we have, the more we sequester carbon," Davis said. "And, because there's a price on carbon, there's potential value in some cases in selling those credits."

The twist is the county has to show it's doing more than status quo to improve its carbon sequestration.

"We (already) harvest trees, plant trees," he said. "If we were to sell carbon credits, we'd have to show we're doing something in addition to that."

While Davis plans to hand in a staff report this fall, he's also marking the centennial of the forest.

Simcoe County was the first to jump onto the province's reforestation program, which encouraged

municipalities to buy land unfit for agricultural use. The first trees were planted May 8, 1922.

And the county continues to buy land — although, with today's prices, it has slowed.

"The last addition was the Rathburn Tract in Ramara Township," he said.

This year, the forest was also

recognized as the Forestry Capital of Canada — the second time the county forest has earned such an award.

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2022-06-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

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