Aufmerksamkeit der Waldbesitzer!

A helpful forest owner has sent me a copy of the latest communication he’s received from MAF – see http://www.maf.govt.nz/sustainable-forestry/ets/ets-advert-lores-web.pdf

It tells land owners that “if you own forest land established before 1 January 1990 you must notify the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) of any deforestation greater than two hectares of forest since 1 January 2008.

Failure to notify deforestation of more than 2 hectares by 31 January 2009 may result in the landowner committing an offence under section 129 of the Climate Change Response Act 2002.”  The document gives people just a week to do it.

Penalties under that Act include an $8,000 fine for a first offence, rising to $24,000 for a third offence – all for changing the use of just 2 hectares of your own land!  ( see http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0040/latest/DLM1662698.html?search=ts_act_climate+change+response+act_resel )

Note also, that offences under section 129 are strict liability – that is, you don’t have to have intended to break the law or even know about it.  Don’t notify MAF that you cut down a few trees on your own land last year and the little green men from MAF will haul you before the courts.  No wonder the design of the MAF document looks like something out of an authoritarian state.  It will certainly attract attention.

It does make you wonder though what sort of snooping state Labour’s climate change policies were going to create.  Already we know that MAF has taken photos of every property in New Zealand to check how many trees were on them on 31 December 2007 so they can come back later and check later that you haven’t been a naughty kiwi and tried to export a few logs. Trees are now the property of the state!

And by the way, isn’t the Emissions Trading Scheme meant to be on hold pending the Select Committee review?  Sounds like someone forgot to tell MAF.