New Zealand town plants forest to reach carbon neutrality
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Residents of Ōtaki, a town in New Zealand, are working to become carbon neutral by establishing a circle of native forests around their community.
In 2023, Dianne Buchan initiated the Ōtaki Carbon Forest Project, and so far 35 landowners have pledged at least half a hectare of land towards planting 32 hectares of trees by 2030. Seventeen hectares are already planted with the help of volunteers and affordable saplings.
This initiative builds on the work of Energise Ōtaki, a charitable trust established 20 years ago to improve the town’s energy efficiency, which already operates a solar farm and several other community projects. The forest aims to absorb carbon emissions that cannot be reduced through other means, with estimates suggesting 32 hectares of native forest could remove around 56,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent after 50 years, offsetting the town's annual emissions of 60,000 tonnes.
Rhian Salmon, a landowner involved in the project and an Associate Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, discovered that a relatively small area of trees can offset a significant amount of carbon, equivalent to a long-distance flight or a year of daily commuting. Cam Butler, chair of the Ōtaki Community Board, sees the project as a way to turn unproductive land into an environmental asset and inspire other small towns to pursue similar goals.
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Rito, a local Māori immersion school, also participates, connecting generations through planting and restoring the land.
