Govt plans Traveston tree planting
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The Queensland Government is aiming to plant up to two million forestry trees as part of the construction of the proposed Traveston Crossing dam near Gympie in the state's south-east.
The Government is this week calling for expressions of interest from forestry plantation operators to grow the trees.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Infrastructure Minister Paul Lucas said the proposed plantation would cover more than 2,000 hectares.
"Not only will the forest initiative revitalise the Mary Valley timber industry, the offsets of up to 850,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will more than offset the dam's estimated 140 tonne construction footprint," he said.
The president of the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group, Kevin Ingersole, does not believe planting the trees will offset the carbon emissions from the controversial dam.
"Two hundred and seventy thousand tonnes a year is the estimate of the emissions from that dam. The pumping cost emissions are about 130,000, so if the dam operates the way they say it would basically it's going to emit about 400,000 tonnes a year and I don't think they've taken that into account in their two million trees," he said.
