Although we registered for the Emissions Trading Scheme 11 years ago with no intention of cashing in the carbon credits, the income from selling the credits was a welcome boost after the impact of the pandemic on Glen Dene’s Hunting & Fishing business. Lynda Gray reports.
Hunting in Otago
Joining the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has stacked up on a number of levels for Richard and Sarah Burdon. As well as netting them $240,000 from the sale of carbon credits in 2020, registering with the scheme has had complementary spin-offs for the agritourism side of their Glen Dene Station farming business.
The $240,000 cash injection was a welcome boost for the Burdons, whose hunting business income dried up with the Covid-19 lockdown.
“We were hit hard but selling the carbon credits offset the losses,” Richard says.
The units sold were from some of the regenerating native area registered in the scheme and amounted to 7000 tonnes of carbon equivalent units at $35 a tonne, less a 4% commission.
However, he says that cashing in credits to top up farm income during tough times was not the prime motivation for joining the ETS back in 2010.