Carbon trading to help struggling farmers.

As you may all have heard theirs a lot of talk about carbon trading and offset these days :). The general idea is that polluting company's buy forests/trees or rent them to offset there carbon emissions. Its apparently big and working well in the EU now been worth a lot of euros a year. The world bank says the carbon market was worth 64 billion in 2007. Its not really caught on in Australia and i must say chairman Rudd's green credentials are some times questionable although hes much better than Howard :P.

My idea is that well if every tree someone owns is worth money. Then it would be a great insensitive to farmers to plant more and also a way of helping them though these hard times. Ive seen it first time hand as my parents are farmers and its not easy. Its also gotta be bad for the economy, even if the government likes to think that agriculture makes up very small amount of our country's exports

If every large company here had to pay a tax for all its carbon produced and we could go as far as every household payed a tax on its power (its pretty cheap here, still to cheap in ways, if it cost more people would waste it less). Then all the farmers who own a tree left on there land (most around here do) can sell those trees as carbon banks. This would give farmers a new source of income put an end to logging and land clearing. As the trees would be worth more than sheep or cattle. That are both pretty worthless despite the huge prices in the shops.

My parents farm has plenty of trees on it we haven't ever cleared any of it (most of the land has been cleared in the more distant past) we have one paddock that is all wooded. Not 2 mention we have planted lots of trees all over the farm mostly with Landcare grants.

If every tree on every farm was worth money there would be a lot more money in these areas. Not to mention national parks would be nice and rich and the logging company's would be a bit redundant. That's never a bad thing they are doing a great job of destroying our future.

I'm not sure how you would value a farm or a tree although it must not be to hard as they do it with forests at the moment. I don't see that only native trees should be worth money to as our gardens full of foreign trees and the wildlife seem to happily come visiting. Especially the parrots who knock all our apples off trying to eat them.