Not easy being green

The Coalition government’s “one billion trees” policy was a central part of its post election policy intended to boost jobs in the provinces, reduce green house gas emissions and help clean up the country’s water ways. The extra trees are to be planted for 10 years from 2018 and are in effect an additional 50,000ha of new plantings a year, on top of the 50,000ha a year on average planted as a replacement rate for felled trees.

Politically it is an appealing policy, easy target to communicate, and one that links smoothly to the other big coalition policy, the $3 billion regional development fund intended to grow job opportunities and new industry in areas of the country short on capital input.

However, there are some sectors of the farming community wondering just where the additional land is going to come from to reach the lofty targets. We open up the discussion to sector representatives.

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