A company in Great Britain has backed off in its purchasing and reforestation activities on large tracts of farmland in the Cariboo and Vanderhoof areas.
Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick says he had "a productive meeting" between ministry staff and the Reckitt Benckiser (RB) Group regarding its Trees for Change program, and he is encouraged to hear RB is in the process of reviewing it.
During the past few years, RB bought up more than 7,000 hectares in the Agriculture Land Reserve (ALR) from Prince George to Quesnel, planted it with trees and applied 100-year, no-logging covenants.
Cariboo Regional District (CRD) chair Al Richmond, one of the community stakeholders who recently raised strong concerns about the issue, says he is pleased to see this pause for review.
"I think it is positive that RB has listened to the concerns that local governments have.
"We sent two CRD directors to the meeting held in Vanderhoof ... when [RB] said they were going to hold off doing any more."
The manufacturer of cleaning and health products says it wants to ensure it is meeting its objectives, as well as to build support with local communities and stakeholders.
Richmond says higher value, arable lands viable for producing food, or animal feed, such as hay and alfalfa, should be preserved for future agriculture needs.
However, the Cariboo does have some less productive land, some of it in "desperate need" of new seedlings, he says.
"There is a need for silviculture money to reforest some of the areas damaged by the mountain pine beetle."
The CRD wants to work with RB to see if there is a way to plant trees in those areas to sequester carbon and earn the United Kingdom company the credit benefits it is seeking, he explains.
"I'm not saying they are going to be easily obtainable, but we'd like to look at some options to encourage them to plant trees – we think that's a good idea – but we'd like to find some way where that might be able to be channelled into where it is really needed."
NDP agriculture critic Lana Popham notes she had proposed a Protecting Agriculture Lands Act to ensure that the ALR is better preserved.
“I’m hopeful that Reckitt Benckiser is addressing our concerns, but ... with only five per cent of B.C. land suitable for agriculture, it is crucial that legislation is put in place immediately to protect that land."
Richmond says he is not too concerned at this point about other companies following the same path of reforestation for carbon credits, as he has not yet heard of any in the Cariboo.
"I think the actions of RB, their change of direction now that they are paused, is probably going to send a message to those companies to talk to local government, and [on] how this could happen.
"If we can find a means to help them contribute to putting more silviculture into forests, maybe that's a benefit for everybody."
Now, the CRD is anticipating discussions along these lines at an upcoming meeting with RB.
"We are also working on having a tour with the Agriculture Land Commission [ALC] chair [in August] ... to show him the areas in question, and see if he or the ALC have some ideas on how they could participate in bringing about a positive [outcome]."
That could involve identifying how, but also where carbon credits could potentially be obtained through forest silviculture, Richmond notes.