6. Question No. 6—ForestryRACHEL BROOKING (Labour) to the Minister of ForestryQuestion No. 6—Forestry6. RACHEL BROOKING (Labour) to the Minister of Forestry: How is the Government using investment in forestry to help New Zealand meet its obligations to lower emissions and mitigate the impact of climate change?Hon STUART NASH (Minister of Forestry): The emissions reduction plan sets out actions we can take now in the forestry sector to support the transition to a high-value low-emissions economy and enhance biodiversity in the natural environment. A total of $710 million has been committed to the wider primary sector from the Climate Emergency Response Fund to achieve these plans. Just over half of this—almost $330 million—supports forestry initiatives. In particular we will establish new native forests at scale; maximise carbon storage by developing more reliable information about sequestration rates of different species especially native trees; and replace coal and other fossil fuels with an increased supply of woody biomass including biofuels. These actions are achievable and show that every sector can play its part to reduce emissions and protect our economic security. Rachel Brooking: What are the challenges for native afforestation as opposed to exotic forestry and how has the Government responded? Hon STUART NASH: I acknowledge that establishing new native forest comes with multiple challenges. It currently costs more to grow and produce and purchase native trees and—everything being equal because of for example introduced pests—they have relatively low survival rates compared with some exotics. Commercial returns for native forests in the emissions trading scheme are currently lower due to incomplete look-up tables. The Government is exploring options to address these challenges along the full supply chain to improve incentives for landowners and others to plant more native trees. We are investing $145 million from Budget 2022 in the forestry response in the emissions reduction plan to reduce the costs of native tree seedlings and increase the number available for planting in future years. Rachel Brooking: How does the emissions reduction plan build on previous initiatives like the one billion tree programme?Hon STUART NASH: We have spent the last four and a half years working to bend the curve on the trajectory of our carbon emissions with programmes like the billion trees plan. Now is the time for forestry to play an even more prominent role in our future. Forestry has a strong economic and social history in New Zealand. It is one of our largest export earners a significant employer of over 40000 people in forestry and wood processing and is central to our high-wage high-skilled and low-emissions economic transformation strategy. We set ourselves a goal of planting 1 billion trees by 2028. The annual planting season is just about to start with an estimated 120 million seedlings expected to go in the ground during 2022. As at December 2021 an estimated 350 million trees have been planted thanks to Government partnership and support through the billion trees programme. Forestry is a long-term game and while the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago the second-best time is now.