Chinese Visit Australian Eucalypt Plantation

A forestry trial in the Upper Hunter Valley of NSW Australia has attracted international attention with a Chinese delegation visiting a eucalypt plantation in March 2011.Coal & Allied Environmental Specialist for Rehabilitation Bill Baxter said officers from the State Forestry Administration inspected the plantation of around 80,000 eucalypts near the Hunter Valley Operations mine last week.

Pictured: Coal & Allied's Bill Baxter and Deputy Director General Ningxia Forestry Department Mr Wang Hongjie.

"We were very happy to share the promising results we've had from this trial so far, which highlight the potential for our mines to contribute to the establishment of a forestry industry in the Upper Hunter Valley," said Mr Baxter. "This plantation is specifically aimed at determining whether a commercial size forest is viable in the Hunter Valley, where low rainfall of 600 to 700 millimetres a year and relatively poor soils mean tree growth rates are less than those on the coast and coastal range."

"We planted the first trees in 2007, so the plantation is now well established and we'll continue to monitor growth in coming years." "Besides any commercial benefits, the plantation is providing ecosystem diversity on what was previously grazing land""This Chinese delegation was also particularly interested in the carbon offset potential for this plantation, which is expected to sequester around 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide."

Deputy Director General in the State Forestry Administration Mr Su Ming said the group's visit to Australia was aimed at promoting the development of forest carbon sequestration in China. "This Upper Hunter Valley plantation was very interesting as an example of an environmental planting in a lower rainfall area," said Mr Su. "We hope our visit will allow us to improve the development of forestry measures to address climate change, and promote ongoing co-operation in this area between our countries."

The inspection was organised by the Australian Government, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) which is hosting the official visit under the Australia-China Agriculture Cooperation Agreement (ACACA).

Pictured: left to right, Ms Wang Chunneng, Mr Yau Jianlin, Mr Su Ming, Coal & Allied Environmental Specialist Bill Baxter, Mr Wang Hongjie, Federal Department of Fisheries and Forestry Policy Officer Ms Wendy Whitby, and Mr Guo Yufu.