Carbon offsets could replace logging revenue in forest reserve
Can we stop logging the municipal forest reserve and decrease our property taxes?
Yes, this is a possibility, as demonstrated by the the Municipality of North Cowichan Carbon Project Feasibility Assessment (https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=2280) and discussed at Tuesday’s Forest Advisory Committee Meeting.
Two key conclusions of the report are:
1. “Ownership and management activities on the MNC Forest Reserve satisfy the requirements for a carbon offset project.”
2. “Initial estimates indicate that a carbon offset project on the Municipal Forest Reserve could provide an ongoing, stable revenue source to the MNC competitive with the current logging model, while ensuring that the additional ecosystem services of importance to the local community are maintained or enhanced.”
As some of you may have noticed, the municipality has recently been using less intrusive logging methods. While lower in impact, these may actually be more expensive and thus less profitable that the standard approach. This raises the possibility that logging revenue could actually be less than the carbon offset revenue.
If we can decide to stop logging in the MFR, North Cowichan could decrease our property taxes.
Marilyn Palmer
Quamichan Neighbourhood
