Australia to award carbon credits for culling feral camels

The plan has been included in the "Carbon Farming Initiative" legislation, which was this week passed by the House of Representatives and is now before the Senate. Under the plan, culling would earn carbon credits that could be bought by industrial polluters to offset their own carbon emissions.

Heavily reliant on coal-fired power and mining exports, Australia is the highest per capita carbon emitter in the world. The government has proposed implementing a carbon tax scheme next year, which would force big polluters to pay an estimated $20 (£13) for each tonne of carbon they emit.

Tim Moore, from NorthWest Carbon, said camels lived for 30 to 50 years in the wild, each creating as much pollution annually as a long haul flight. He said that putting a carbon credit price on each camel would kick-start the culling industry.

"Obviously the higher the value, the faster we're going to be able to eradicate the problem of the feral camel pest in Australia." Australia has struggled to control the feral camels for more than a century.

The camels were brought to Australia from India in the 1840s to help explorers and pioneers reach the interior and construct the Ghan railway.

After construction of the railway was complete in the 1920s, hundreds of the animals were released into the Outback, where they thrived in the arid conditions.

There are now believed to be more than 1.2 million causing havoc in remote parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia and the government estimates that the population doubles every nine years.

As well as eating endangered native flora, the animals terrorise Aboriginal communities and foul vital watering holes.

Mark Dreyfus, the parliamentary secretary for climate change, said camels were a pest that posed a threat to the nation's biodiversity.

"Camels damage trees and shrubs and can severely defoliate trees, shrubs, and vines.

"They can cause degradation of remote waterholes, affecting the ability of native plants and animals to use these refuges during droughts and potentially leading to the local extinction of these species.

Earning Carbon Credits Via Tree Planting

More and more attempts are now being made to moderate the growth in the concentrations of greenhouse gases. These gases that are in the earth’s atmosphere radiate back the heat coming from the planet’s surface causing global warming. The dangerous effects of this phenomenon are now being experienced all over the world at a worrying pace. Because of this, a system has been put in place on an international scale to minimize carbon footprint. One of the responses to this critical issue is tree planting for carbon credits . This is a generic term for any tradable certificate or permit which represents the right to emit a ton of carbon or carbon dioxide. A unit of carbon credit is equal to one ton of CO2. Some markets trade equivalent gases.

Initiatives such as this attract companies especially because they can be both environmentally and economically beneficial. On the economic side of it, these credits can be sold to companies and invidivual customers who are interested in reducing their carbon footprint. The credits can be bought from investment funds or carbon development companies that have aggregated them from a variety of sources. The quality of these credits is also validated. Typically, voluntary units have a lower value compared to those sold through the Clean Development Mechanism, which is one of the “flexible” mechanisms instituted by the global warming fighting machine called the Kyoto Protocol.

This is the reason why many more individuals and companies are going for planting more trees to get these credits. With carbon currently trading at 15 euros for every ton, a single hectare of trees can earn tens of thousands in International Carbon Credits within less than 10 years of planting. These allowances can be transferred between different countries. The UNFCC or United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is tasked to validate each international transfer. As a result, this system essentially creates a market for minimizing greenhouse emissions by giving a monetary equivalent to the cost of polluting the planet’s air. It then also becomes part of a company’s operational expenses.

With this excellent effort that benefits the environment, individuals and organizations alike will find it very sensible to opt for tree planting for carbon credits . The economic and environmental benefits of this initiative will surely go a long way in making the world a better place to live in.

Understanding Carbon Credits

Exploring the market for voluntary carbon offsets

The voluntary carbon offset market, sixth report of session 2006-07, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

Planting trees for carbon credits, a discussion of the issues, feasibility, and environmental benefits

Tropical Community Tree Guide, Benefits, Costs, and Strategic Planting