Afforestation Grant Scheme

Afforestation Grant Scheme provides funding for Bay of Plenty residents to establish and plant a forest on private land. You can apply to Environment Bay of Plenty for this funding.

About the scheme

The Afforestation Grant Scheme (AGS) (1MB, pdf) is an initiative first flagged in the Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change: Options for a Plan of Action discussion document released in December 2006.
It offers an alternative to the proposed New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) as a way to encourage greater levels of greenhouse gas absorption by increasing the area of Kyoto-compliant new forest in New Zealand. Another objective of the AGS is to establish this new Kyoto-compliant forest in areas where it will help reduce the likely impacts of climate change and generate other environmental benefits, for example, where it will reduce soil erosion, nutrient leaching and flood peaks.

Who can apply for an afforestation grant?

Provided that certain land eligibility criteria are met, Bay of Plenty residents with the right to use land for forestry can obtain an AGS grant through Environment Bay of Plenty. Individuals, business entities and local government may apply for the AGS grant provided they own the land, or have the right to use the land for forestry

What land is eligible for a grant?

Land eligible for a grant must be land that:

• Was not forest land on 31 December 1989; or
• Was forest land on 31 December 1989 but;
• Was deforested between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2007; or
• Was deforested on or after 1 January 2008; and
  in respect of which any liability to surrender units arising to the Crown under the Kyoto Protocol have been satisfied.

The assessment of the eligibility of an applicant's land is based upon the information provided in their application.

Environment Bay of Plenty will, as required, carry out an inspection to confirm that the land is eligible to receive a grant. Non-compliant land within an application area must be identified in any application, and will not be eligible for a grant.

Minimum application size

The minimum application size is 5 hectares. This area may consist of multiple areas of at least 1 hectare.
Shelterbelts or riparian strips less than 30 metres average width (canopy-edge to canopy-edge) are not eligible. However, afforestation on both sides of a waterway can be assessed as one riparian strip with the width of the waterway excluded from the width measurement.

Maximum grant rates

Maximum grant rates will be set for each afforestation category that will reflect the rate of carbon sequestration, and the risks to the Crown of retaining carbon ownership. The grant will reflect the rate of carbon sequestration over the first 10 years of the rotation.
The grant rates agreed to on a per hectare basis for the period up to 30 June 2010 are:

• $2,400 + GST for fast growing species
• $1,000 + GST for slow growing species

(A species list with annual carbon uptakes is available in the information booklet)
Species capable of a Mean Annual Increment of 15 or greater are described as "Fast Growing".

Application process for applying for a grant

The application process will be:

• Applicants submit grant application (695KB, pdf) via Environment Bay of Plenty;  
• Environment Bay of Plenty acknowledges receipt of grant application; 
• Confirmation that species are suitable for the sites; 
• Onsite inspection and audit of information submitted; 
• Application will be considered, approved, renegotiated or declined; 
• Administrator may at his or her sole discretion decline any tender.

Criteria

The land management officer, when considering an area of land for afforestation should score the relative attributes of that landscape according to the criteria outlined in the information booklet. The resulting score can then be used as a guide as to which is the most appropriate fund to apply to. The area is assessed for other value:

• Soil conservation 
• Water quality 
• Biodiversity
  

Payment of grants

A grantee may lodge a claim for payment (83KB, pdf) when the forest is successfully established including a statutory declaration to that effect, and when a geospatial map of the planted area is supplied. Normally, this will be at least six weeks after the tree releasing operation in the spring following planting.
The process prior to making a claim will be:

• Forest area planted; 
• Notify land management officer that project completed;
• An inspection of the completed project will be carried out by land management officer;
• Payment approved and processed by land management officer.

With assisted indigenous reversion, a claim may be lodged when the operations specified in the application such as fencing, animal control etc have been completed.

The administrator will audit a proportion of claims to confirm compliance with the establishment standard, and will generally make payments within 30 working days of receiving claims. Adjustments may be made to claims if part of the application area is deemed to have not met the standard.

For more information about the scheme contact us.