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PRESS RELEASE - 18th October 2002 Major Japanese Power Company To Plant Two and Half Million Trees In Western Australian Wheat belt The President of the Kansai Electric Power Company, Mr. Yosaku Fuji, has announced that Kansai has appointed The Oil Mallee Company of Australia to establish 1000 hectares of Mallee Eucalypts on cleared agricultural land in the Western Australian wheat belt next year. Kansai is one of the largest power companies in Japan. Its annual power generation is equivalent to the total amount of power generated in Australia, the Company's annual revenue is more than AU$37 billion dollars and it has more than 12 million customers including the residents of Kyoto, the city which lends its name to the Kyoto Protocol. The Oil Mallee Company of Australia was formed by the Oil Mallee Association, which has over 1000 members, in 1997. Together these two farmer based organisations have been promoting the establishment of an industry based on Mallee Eucalypt tree crops grown in the Western Australian wheat belt to reduce salinity for more than a decade. Professor Shea, the Chairman of the Oil Mallee Company, said that this initial planting was being undertaken by Kansai to demonstrate the potential of mallees to absorb carbon dioxide on a large scale and to contribute to reducing salinity. "Mallee Eucalypts were an ideal tree to create a carbon sink because of their ability to grow at high levels of productivity in low rainfall areas, their capacity to form a large underground sink (the mallee root) and their longevity. Over a 20 year period the 1000 hectares of Kansai plantings would absorb approximately 860,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide." Professor Shea said. "Kansai had demonstrated its commitment to cope with global environmental problems long before the signing of the Kyoto Protocol by adopting a systematic program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Kansai had also undertaken innovative reafforestation programs of tropical forests and mangroves in Indonesia and Thailand." "KANSO, a subsidiary of Kansai, has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Oil Mallee Company and the University of Notre Dame to undertake cooperative research projects on carbon sequestration and land rehabilitation." "During the two and half years during which the project was developed I was impressed by Kansai's enthusiasm for the project because of the beneficial effect of tree planting on reducing salinity as well as its contribution to offsetting carbon dioxide emissions" Professor Shea said. The Western Australian project which will involve planting 2,500,000 trees in the wheat belt in "alleys" across cleared farmland will result in a major boost to the regional economy as a consequence of payments to tree nurseries, tree planting contractors and the annual rental which would be paid to farmers. Professor Shea said "Tree planting by itself would not solve either salinity or global warming. There was no doubt, however, that establishing tree crops on a large scale could make a significant contribution to ameliorating both environmental crises. If the strategic plan, developed by the farmer driven Oil Mallee Company, to plant 2 million hectares of mallee eucalypts in the agricultural region of Western Australia was successful more than 80 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would be absorbed from the atmosphere each year and salinity would be reduced over more than 10 millon hectares." Professor Shea said he was delighted to acknowledge the strong support of the State and Federal Governments and in particular the Department of Conservation and Land Management for the role they have played in developing the Oil Mallee Eucalypt Industry. For Further Information Contact: Professor
Syd Shea-0403 309 003 or 08 9433 6890 |