Tree trade

Australian foresters began planting 510 hectares of pine this month as part
of a deal that a Japanese power company hopes will allow it to burn fossil
fuels. The agreement, which aims to win “carbon credits” under the Kyoto
Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, was signed in February between Tokyo
Electric Power Company and State Forests of New South Wales. The plantation will
absorb about 9 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare each year. It could
eventually be extended to 40 000 hectares over the next decade.