Carbon farming in agricultural landscapes may provide a cost-effective mechanism for
offsetting carbon emissions while delivering co-benefits for biodiversity through ecosystem
restoration. Reforestation of landscapes using native tree and shrub species, termed
environmental plantings, has been recognized as a carbon offset methodology which
can contribute to biodiversity conservation as well as climate mitigation. However, far less
attention has been paid to the potential for assisted natural regeneration in areas of low
to intermediate levels of degradation, where regenerative capacity still remains and little
intervention would be required to restore native vegetation. In this study, we considered
the economics of carbon farming in the state of Queensland, Australia, where 30.6 million
hectares of relatively recently deforested agricultural landscapes may be suitable for carbon
farming. Using spatially explicit estimates of the rate of carbon sequestration and the
opportunity cost of agricultural production, we used a discounted cash flow analysis to
examine the economic viability of assisted natural regeneration relative to environmental
plantings. We found that the average minimum carbon price required to make assisted
natural regeneration viable was 60% lower than what was required to make environmental
plantings viable ($65.8 t CO2e1 compared to $108.8 t CO2e1
). Assisted natural regeneration
could sequester 1.6 to 2.2 times the amount of carbon possible compared to environmental
plantings alone over a range of hypothetical carbon prices and assuming a moderate 5%
discount rate. Using a combination of methodologies, carbon farming was a viable land use
in over 2.3% of our study extent with a low $5 t CO2e1 carbon price, and up to 10.5 million
hectares (34%) with a carbon price of $50 t CO2e1
. Carbon sequestration supply and
economic returns generated by assisted natural regeneration were relatively robust to
variation in establishment costs and discount rates due to the utilization of low-cost
*
Carbon farming in agricultural landscapes may provide a cost-effective mechanism foroffsetting carbon emissions while delivering co-benefits for biodiversity through ecosystemrestoration. Reforestation of landscapes using native tree and shrub species, termedenvironmental plantings, has been recognized as a carbon offset methodology whichcan contribute to biodiversity conservation as well as climate mitigation. However, far lessattention has been paid to the potential for assisted natural regeneration in areas of lowto intermediate levels of degradation, where regenerative capacity still remains and littleintervention would be required to restore native vegetation. In this study, we consideredthe economics of carbon farming in the state of Queensland, Australia, where 30.6 millionhectares of relatively recently deforested agricultural landscapes may be suitable for carbonfarming. Using spatially explicit estimates of the rate of carbon sequestration and theopportunity cost of agricultural production, we used a discounted cash flow analysis toexamine the economic viability of assisted natural regeneration relative to environmentalplantings. We found that the average minimum carbon price required to make assistednatural regeneration viable was 60% lower than what was required to make environmentalplantings viable ($65.8 t CO2e1 compared to $108.8 t CO2e1). Assisted natural regenerationcould sequester 1.6 to 2.2 times the amount of carbon possible compared to environmentalplantings alone over a range of hypothetical carbon prices and assuming a moderate 5%discount rate. Using a combination of methodologies, carbon farming was a viable land usein over 2.3% of our study extent with a low $5 t CO2e1 carbon price, and up to 10.5 millionhectares (34%) with a carbon price of $50 t CO2e1. Carbon sequestration supply andeconomic returns generated by assisted natural regeneration were relatively robust tovariation in establishment costs and discount rates due to the utilization of low-cost*
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