Expanding woodland regeneration on marginal southern Queensland pastures using market-based instruments: a landowners' perspective

Abstract

Data collected during interviews with private landowners are used to identify important constraints on how market-based instruments can be used to expand woodland regeneration on marginal pastures in the southern Queensland region of Australia. Landowners highlighted three types of constraints: those related to the uncertainty over what rules will govern a mandatory carbon trading scheme in Australia; those related to how landowners can measure and sell their carbon credits; and those related to whether the initiative will be profitable for landowners. Case analysis of the ‘Emissions Biodiversity Exchange Project for the 21st Century’ (EBEX21)program of Landcare Research New Zealand are then used to reveal ways in which similar constraints have been successfully addressed in the context of marginal pastures in New Zealand. The EBEX21 program demonstrates how a government policy initiative can provide support to landowners by: (1) informing landowners about carbon trading opportunities (2) ensuring satisfactory regeneration of woodlands (including the use of appropriate practices for fire and livestock exclusion and pest and weed management) (3) helping landowners measure and verify their carbon credits; and (4) providing a transparent system (through carboNZero) for landowners to engage with potential buyers of carbon credits.