A study released by Beef and Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), the country's meat promotion body, has shown that sheep breeding ewe numbers have fallen by 1% so far in 2023. This follows a drop in numbers of 5.2% in 2022. B+LNZ claims the main driver for this reduction is the amount of farmland being bought for tree planting to offset carbon emissions.
B+LNZ have previously released a report analysing farmland which showed that 200,000 Ha of farmland had been sold for forestry planting during the past 5 years. B+LNZ also expects a further 88,000 Ha to be planted this year. Much of the area sold is now owned by foreign companies.
New Zealand is one of the only countries in the world that allows fossil fuel emitters to offset 100% of their emissions. The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) introduced a pricing mechanism on carbon credits. This has led to a rapid surge in the purchase of good farmland in New Zealand by carbon investors seeking to sell carbon offsets in the future through forestry creation. B+LNZ are calling for policy changes to the scheme to address the issue of wholesale land-use change with specific limits on the amount of forestry that can be used to offset fossil fuel emissions.
B+LNZ fear the scale and pace of land use change currently being seen in New Zealand will have a negative impact on rural communities, food production and export income. A concern echoed by the FUW in Wales.
The issue of businesses from outside of Wales coming in and buying up farms and land is a major problem. The concern is that carbon credits are being bought and used to offset the emissions of businesses outside of Wales which then can’t be used to meet Wales’ net zero targets. The FUW wants to work with the Welsh Government, not to object to their tree planting targets but to ensure that the benefits accrue to farmers, communities and Wales as a country rather than large corporations who have no long-term interests in Wales.
In 2021 there was a six-fold increase in applications to plant woodland in Wales compared with previous years, with around 75% of applications made by individuals or bodies based outside Wales which had purchased Welsh farmland. Figures obtained by the FUW have shown that 75% of the afforestation applications in Wales for over 50 ha of planting are from charities and private companies based in England, with a 450% increase in afforestation Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) applications to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) from 2015 to 2021. Only 20% of applications were from private individuals or businesses based in Wales.