Planting forest to offset pre-1990 deforestation

Offsetting emissions by planting another forest

If you deforest pre-1990 forest land, you usually need to pay New Zealand Units (NZUs or units) for the emissions. This is called “surrendering” units. However, you may be able to deforest without paying units if you apply to offset the deforestation.

Offsetting is when you plant another forest to absorb the amount of carbon the first forest stored. This means you can deforest the original land without adding to New Zealand’s net carbon emissions. The land that you plant forest on to offset emissions is called “offsetting land”.

Find out more about deforesting pre-1990 forest land

Rules for planting forest to offset pre-1990 forest land

To offset the emissions from deforesting pre-1990 forest land, the forest you plant must meet certain criteria. It must be:

• at least the size of the area you deforest
• established by planting, rather than self-seeding
• expected to store the same amount of carbon as the first pre-1990 forest did
• planted on land that would be eligible to enter the ETS as post-1989 forest land, and
• planted on land that didn’t previously have forest growing on it (which means it’s on its first rotation).

Find out what makes post-1989 forest land eligible to be registered in the ETS

You can include land that has been planted in the past 2 years in your offsetting application, if it’s on its first rotation. This land may already be registered as post-1989 forest land. You can also include land left over from a previous offsetting application.

Read more about using leftover offsetting land in another application

If any of this land is already registered as post-1989 forest land in the ETS, it stops being post-1989 forest land when it becomes offsetting land. ETS-registered post-1989 forest land will have a “unit balance”. This is the net total of units that have been allocated to that forest land. If post-1989 forest land becomes offsetting land, units to the amount of the unit balance must be paid to the government.

Find out how to apply to offset your pre-1990 forest land

You cannot offset land that is already deforested

You cannot apply to offset land that’s already been deforested. “Deforestation” has a specific meaning in the ETS. Land is deforested when it is cleared and:

• used for something else (such as pasture), or
• isn’t replanted or regenerated enough to meet stocking and density requirements after 4, 10, or 20 years.

You may start clearing your pre-1990 forest land before your application is approved, as long as it isn’t considered deforested until after we approve the application.

Find out more about when land is considered deforested