Green Horizons

Editors’ Note: Since our first article on carbon credits, we have come to realize that this is a rapidly evolving and ever-changing opportunity for forestland owners. While we realize that some question the ecological value of carbon trading, our intent is one of providing the latest information so our readers can make informed decisions. With this in mind, the "Carbon Corner" has become a regular feature. We welcome specific questions from landowners wishing to learn more about becoming players in this emerging market.

Forestry and forest carbon stocks have been center stage in the world of climate change recently. For several weeks, representatives from 190 countries have been meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to form a framework for the next stage of the Kyoto agreements. Originally enacted to last through 2012, and only triggered two years ago when Russia signed the agreements, the Bali discussions are the beginning of a two-year process to renegotiate and update the original agreement.

Several key items from the Bali conference of interest to Missouri woodland owners are:

• Two weeks ago Australia signed the Kyoto accords, bringing to 171 the number of countries who have signed the agreement.
• Of the developed countries, only the U.S. has not joined the accord. Whatever model is adopted in the U.S. as a national program in the future, it will be certain to mesh with the second-round structure.
• European and some Asian countries are pushing for aggressive goals, as high as a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 20 years. This would require a huge worldwide effort, and can only be achieved with high carbon credit prices and a very active role for forestry and grass carbon capture.
• Forestry and forest carbon sequestration has now gained a leading role in the process with many countries seeking to .nd ways to preserve their existing forest through carbon credit sales.
• Unlike previous conferences focused on evolving the Kyoto agreements, the Bali meeting had a large emphasis on .nding ways to quantify carbon storage in uneven aged, managed forests. This will be of huge benefit to landowners in the Ozarks with existing forests.

In other news, The Chicago Climate Exchange has just issued its first attempt at measuring and quantifying carbon stocks in managed forests. We are still analyzing those new rules, more to come in the next issue of Carbon Corner.

And lastly, Tatanka Resources and Dogwood Carbon have capped their first forestry carbon offset pool, just last week. A total of 93 landowners in six states, nearly 24,000 acres, signed up. Site sampling and modeling is beginning now, but it is expected the total carbon pool will be in the 300,000 to 400,000 tons of CO2 range. This would make it one of the largest forestry carbon trades in the history of the exchange and more importantly the first to accumulate tens of thousands of acres of small land holdings into one trade.