A Northern Midlands property is at the cutting edge of a revolution. ANNIE KEARNEY reports.
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FOR nearly 200 years the O'Connor family has produced some of the country's finest cattle and merino sheep on historic Connorville in Tasmania's Northern Midlands.
But this year, as well as farming livestock, the O'Connors are being paid not to harvest anything.
More precisely, the seventh generation of this pioneering dynasty is at the cutting edge of a revolution - the new world of carbon trading.
Connorville is banking cash for not cutting down any of the trees on its 17,800-hectare property that sprawls beneath the Western Tiers.
It is one of more than a dozen Tasmanian farms that have entered into agreements to offset carbon credits for multinational companies.
Connorville's involvement in the scheme is being managed by Redd Forests, an Australian company that is capitalising on the need for national and global companies to offset their emissions.
Connorville may be paid about $250,000 not to cut down any of its native eucalypt forests.
The amount is paid on a market rate that fluctuates depending on national and international events.
The agreement stipulates that Connorville cannot harvest trees for the next 25 years.
The decision to be involved in the scheme rather than to engage in logging is one that Connorville owner Roderic O'Connor believes is a risk worth taking.
''It's quite weird thinking that you can be paid for doing a crop and then the next minute for doing nothing,'' he said.
''It sounds too easy or lazy or something's wrong, but you're forgoing quite a lot of income from timber sales to do that.
``When it worked out that the money I would forgo from harvesting would be similar to what I would earn storing carbon, I thought let's do it.''
Mr O'Connor said the program enabled him to combine his commitment to conservation with farming and to maintain the family business.
''I've been thinking about this for 10 years but couldn't get any programs to do it with.
''This is another avenue for the family business, for me or my son (Lachlan, 9) or family, to keep on going.
''With this, we can look after conservation issues and keep farming.''
Project developer Redd Forests says the program could be a replacement for low-value logging in Tasmania.
The scheme enables properties to sell carbon credits assigned to them dependent on the volume of timber they had intended to harvest.
Redd Forests managing director Steven Dickie said Tasmania was a good option for carbon trading because of the already established forestry industry.
''It's a commercial solution to philosophical problems and a pragmatic and practical solution to environmental problems,'' he said.
Mr Dickie said landowners must show intent to harvest the trees.
They are then allocated credits for the volume of timber that they would have been able to sell. These credits are sold through middlemen to companies worldwide.
Farmers must show that they would harvest the wood if not for the scheme, so logging must be legal in the state where the project is proposed.
Mr Dickie said the program was not a replacement for the forestry industry or for high-value logging, but solely for low-value woodchips.
Mr Dickie said five Tasmanian properties had registered with Redd Forests and another eight would soon be registered with the international scheme.
Sydney-based Mr Dickie said Redd Forest started in 2008 and operated by word of mouth to attract properties to carbon trading.
He said the companies seeking carbon credits include a multinational airline, an Australian university and a Japanese importer of Tasmanian wool.
Mr O'Connor said about 3500 hectares of forest on Connorville was involved in the scheme, which was roughly half of the native forests on the property.
''I had previously been working with some green-oriented people and some scientists down in Hobart and we had tried to set up some methodology for a carbon scheme, but we couldn't get it to work, he said.
''A mutual friend from interstate introduced us to Redd Forests.
''As far as I know, this is really the first major project that's happened in the country.''
Connorville is one of Australia's best-known rural properties and is steeped in rich history.
It is the only non-government building in Australia where the Queen has stayed.
This was during her 1954 tour.
Mr O'Connor said the carbon scheme allowed him to look at what the future would hold for Connorville.
''We've been around this place for nearly 200 years, and the idea is to stay here for another 200.''