NZ falls out of love with sheep farming as lucrative pine forests spread

New Zealand’s over reliance on forestry and emissions trading scheme is causing a sharp decline in sheep numbers, across the country, farm after farm is transitioning to lucrative pine forestry, fuelled by demand for carbon credits, from high country sheep stations, to extensive hill country farms. These are at the centre of New Zealand’s international image. For almost a century, lamb, mutton and wool were New Zealand’s largest source of agricultural and national revenue, and at its 1980s peak, the ratio of sheep to humans was more than 20 to one. In June, the government announced it would be reconsidering the role of pine forest in the emissions trading scheme.

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