Better management techniques and large-scale planting initiatives are expected to increase the nation’s estimated 2.1 million hectares of forests over the next three to four years, the Forestry Bureau said yesterday.
The measures are in line with policies set by the Executive Yuan to reduce carbon emissions and will encourage state and privately run corporations to invest in carbon offsets in Taiwan, the bureau said.
The measures will follow initiatives by the agency that already reward farmers that turn agricultural areas — including riversides and mountain slopes — into newly planted forests, it said.
This year, the amount of forest land created on mountain slopes is expected by the bureau to reach 700 hectares, with an additional 37,000 hectares to be placed under close observation.
An additional 4,250 hectares of forest land will also be created on level ground.
Aggregate land set aside for forests is expected to reach 59 percent of the country’s total land mass this year.
Officials said the Forestry Bureau had been promoting the use of domestic forests for carbon offsets and has worked with domestic corporations, including state-run Taiwan Power Co and CPC Corp, Taiwan to make the project a reality.
Researchers from the state-run Taiwan Forestry Research Institute yesterday called the measures a “win-win situation.”
“Forests don’t only have the capability of offsetting large amounts of carbon emissions … they can [also] help protect [against] land erosion while preserving natural ecologies and water resources,” institute official Wu Chun-hsien (吳俊賢) said.
He said research showed trees to be one of the least economically damaging methods of reducing emissions.
Historically, corporate enthusiasm for domestic offsets has been low because of factors including a lack of forest land set aside for new planting along with a lack of government initiatives and regulations, officials said.
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