2 Dec 2009

Forest plan to boost jobs, reduce carbon - Greens

11:45 pm on 2 December 2009

The Green Party has proposed a plan which it says will create thousands of jobs and store millions of tonnes of carbon.

It calls for increased investment in forestry - suggesting 665,000 hectares of new forests would generate an estimated 50,000 jobs and store almost 34 million tonnes of carbon.

Party co-leader Russel Norman says the stimulus plan requires less than $500 million of Government investment over the next 10 years and would encourage forest planting on private and public land.

"One part of the package is to encourage the private sector forestry, so they would be planted wherever the private sector thought was the best place to put them, which would be in different places all over the country."

The party also wants to encourage planting on Crown land.

"There's quite a lot of non-conservation Crown land which could do with forestry on it."

Dr Norman says the party is also proposing increased pest control to protect forests and help boost the possum fur industry.