Afforestation Grant Scheme Guidelines

Public Pool - Tendering for a Grant

The tender process will be:

applicants submit tenders;
administrator acknowledges receipt of tenders;
desktop review of tenders for completeness and, if necessary, a request for further information from applicants;
confirmation that species are suitable for the sites;
possible negotiation regarding species to be planted and an establishment plan; and
possible onsite inspection and audit of information submitted.

Applicants in the public pool must complete an application form (Appendix 1) with the following details:

name and contact details;
evidence that the land is eligible;
the funding sought per hectare;
an interim site plan (map, plan or aerial photo with a map reference to assist location - easting/northing or latitude/longitude);
existing vegetation;
evidence of the right to use the land for forestry (computer freehold register, lease, forestry right or covenant);
access details - how access can be gained, and who to contact to notify that access is being sought;
a brief management plan outlining the species to be planted, the planting, stocking and spacing, establishment techniques or natural reversion plan, and area to be planted each year; and
any areas of non-compliant land within the application area.
consent to the land being included in the GIS database held by MAF.

Tenders may be made subject to the purchase of land, completion of a forestry right, completion of a land-use change agreement or protection covenant or the granting of a resource consent. Any forestry right, agreement or covenant must have a term greater than the Grant Agreement term (see page 11).

The administrator may at his or her sole discretion decline any tender.

Timing of the annual tender programme will be as follows⁹:

Closing date for tenders	30th April
Provisional or final approval	Before 30 June

(2008 closing dates extended:
30th June 2008 & 31 October 2008)

Tenders can be submitted for planting in the current or following calendar year. Approvals will only be valid for the year(s) proposed for planting.

Where the application is conditional, the administrator will provide provisional approval, with final approval made when any outstanding conditions are met, for example:

Proof of unconditional rights to the land is provided by the applicant (this may be done by producing a land title, lease, forestry right or covenant);
Necessary resource consents and/or archaeological site certifications have been obtained.

Successful applicants will have 12 months from the tender closing date to provide the required information.

Unsuccessful tenders from earlier rounds may be re-submitted as a new tender for the same areas, or investors may choose to enter the NZ ETS or the PFSI as an alternative.

Grant approvals may be extended due to unforeseen circumstances, for example, seedling unavailability, delays in negotiating forestry rights etc. Requests for extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Further information may be requested on receipt of an application. If this information is not supplied within a three-month period, the tender will lapse and the applicant must reapply.

Ranking of Tenders

Each tender will be scored according to the three following co-benefit criteria. If a tender meets a criterion it will be given a score of 1, otherwise 0. The scores for each criterion will be summed, with a maximum score of 3.

Assessment Criteria
1. Soil Conservation and Flood Risk Management Defined as land with more than 50 percent of Land Use Capability units rated VIIe or worse; or potentially erodible land with more than 50 percent of land that has been identified by Regional Councils as requiring an effective forest cover
2. Improved Water Quality Defined as land where Regional Councils have identified that afforestation is desirable to improve water quality of lakes and/or rivers; or land that is in a riparian strip.
3. Improved Biodiversity Defined as land where the proposed afforestation will greatly increase the number of indigenous plant species present, improve habitat for indigenous wildlife, increase the ecological complexity of the land use and add linkages/corridors between existing protected natural areas.

Tenders will then be given a weighting factor according to their co-benefit score as follows:

Total Co-benefit score	Weighting factor
0	1.0
1	0.9
2	0.8
3	0.7

The tendered rate will then be multiplied by the weighting factor to give an adjusted tender to be used for ranking purposes only. Successful applicants will still receive their full tendered rate.

A high co-benefit score will give a low weighting factor which means that an adjusted tender will have a favourable advantage when ranked against other adjusted tenders.

Approval Process

The steps in the approval process are:

tenders will be allocated into either the high or low sequestration category;
tenders greater than the maximum grant rates are excluded;
tenders are scored against the three criteria, and adjusted for ranking purposes only;
adjusted tenders are then ranked in descending order;
tenders are then provisionally awarded up to the available funds for that tender round.

Unsuccessful applicants will be informed in writing.

Regional Council Pool

Regional Councils may submit proposals individually or jointly, for afforestation within their regions that meets the scheme eligibility criteria, and is consistent with their sustainable land use objectives. The Councils would work directly with landowners to arrange, administer and fund planting projects. The following core information is required in a proposal:

The total funds required by year;
The minimum area to be established;
The sites that will be targeted and the associated co-benefits;
How the Council will manage applications and performance.

The terms of any agreement between the Crown and a Regional Council, or group of Councils will be recorded in a formal agreement that will be reviewed annually.

Councils will be required to provide information on achievements under the scheme, and will be subject to MAF compliance audit.

What are the Terms of a Grant?

A successful tender (the landholder) will be offered a grant agreement. This agreement will contain the following terms:

the term of the agreement will be 10 years;
the grantee can make a claim for payment when the grant forest is deemed to be successfully established;
if the grant land is deforested within the term of the agreement, the grant plus interest is repayable;
if the grantee transfers the grant-aided forest, the grantee is obliged to transfer the contract to the transferee via a Deed of Novation;
the scheme administrator will have the right to access the land for carbon measurement purposes.

The agreements between the Councils and landowners will reflect these terms. The grant agreement and the Deed of Novation are available at www.maf.govt.nz/climatechange.

⁹ The tender closing and approval dates are the same as for large area applications in the East Coast Forestry Project.

Contact for Enquiries

Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change
MAF
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 CLIMATE (254 628)
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