B.C. forest company sets example for North Cowichan by opting carbon credits
If a major forest company can do it, so can the Municipality of North Cowichan.
That’s the take away message from the announcement that Mosaic Forest Management — B.C.’s biggest holder of private forest lands — is deferring logging on 40,000 hectares to pursue the sale of carbon credits.
The logging deferral covers an area eight times larger than the 5,000-hectare municipal forest reserve and will be in effect for at least 25 years.
The initiative offers a potential new path for North Cowichan, which is in the midst of two consultations — one with the public, the other with First Nations — on the future of the municipal forest reserve, also known as the Six Mountains.
A consultant’s report commissioned by North Cowichan recently revealed that citizens overwhelmingly support values other than logging, including biodiversity, water protection, recreation, ecology, old-growth and viewscapes.
The UBC Partnership Group — UBC forestry, 3Green Tree Consulting, and Coastal Douglas-Fir Conservation Partnership — will be presenting forest management options soon for the public’s consideration.
The sale of carbon credits as a way to generate revenue from a standing forest is expected to be part of these options.
The coastal Douglas-fir forest is the most at-risk forest type in B.C. and overlaps the municipal forest reserve — one reason why carbon credits from the reserve are expected to be more attractive to buyers.
Larry Pynn
Maple Bay