2016 Afforestation Grant Scheme now open
Hon Jo Goodhew
Associate Minister for Primary
Industries
27 April 2017 Media Statement
2016
Afforestation Grant Scheme now open
The second funding round for the Afforestation Growth Scheme (AGS) opens today and comes at an important time for forestry, Associate Primary Industries Minister Jo Goodhew announced today.
“The goal of the AGS is to increase the planting of new forests and the rate of afforestation.
“Estimates suggest that 1.1 million hectares of land is at serious risk of erosion, and forest cover is the best form of erosion control. Through the AGS, we aim to plant 15,000 hectares of new forest by 2020, and we are on track to meet this goal,” Mrs Goodhew says.
The first year of the AGS resulted in contracts of $3.77 million to plant around 2,900 hectares of new forest.
“The AGS enables positive economic outcomes for farmers and landowners, while also reducing some of the high costs associated with marginal land, by increasing forest cover. The AGS will also boost regional economies by taking currently underutilised land and using it for economic and environmental gain.
“New forests enabled by the AGS will improve land-use productivity and regional economic development. It will also deliver environmental benefits such as reducing soil erosion, improving water quality, and absorbing around 1.9 million tonnes of carbon every year,” Mrs Goodhew says.
Applications for the Afforestation
Grants Scheme open on 27 April 2016 and close on 8 June 2016
for planting in Winter 2017.
About the
Afforestation Grants Scheme:
• The AGS aims to
enable planting of 15,000 hectares of new forest by
2020
• The new forests enabled through the AGS have
productivity, regional economic and environmental
benefits.
• The Ministry for Primary Industries,
through the AGS, provides grants of $1,300 a hectare (to a
total of $19.5 million) to help with planting of new
forests.
• Any individual or any organisation that
owns land or has a right to use land for forestry can apply.
Applicants who are about to acquire land or a right to use
land can also apply.
• Applicants must be able to
commit between 5 and 300 hectares of land to planting in new
forest.
• Every application is assessed against
eligibility criteria, which includes consideration of a
detailed technical forestry assessment.
• For
further information about the AGS, see: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/funding-and-programmes/forestry/afforestation-grant-scheme/
ends