Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick says reforesting farmland in B.C.鈥檚 Interior is contrary to the intent of B.C.鈥檚 agricultural land reserve, and he鈥檚 looking for a way to put a stop to it.
British health and household products manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser Inc. has bought up more than 8,000 hectares of farmland from Prince George south to Quesnel, planting the land with trees and vowing to keep the forest on the land for 100 years or more. Local governments are concerned that long-time farming and ranching land is being lost, and farming communities will be weakened as a result.
Letnick said previously that a 2011 requirement for the Agricultural Land Commission to approve covenants for long-term reforestation of farmland would be required before such lands could be used as carbon offsets for the European carbon market. But a Reckitt Benckiser spokesperson confirmed the company isn鈥檛 attempting to claim or trade carbon offsets, so it won鈥檛 be seeking a covenant from the ALC.
That leaves Letnick looking for another way to stop the loss of farmland.
鈥淲hat I鈥檝e been advised is that while they鈥檙e not claiming for offsets, they鈥檙e using it in their publicity to show that they are doing something that鈥檚 environmentally good to offset the negatives that they have back at home,鈥� Letnick said in an interview Monday.
The company鈥檚 stated plan to keep the farmland in forest 鈥渇lies in the face of the [Agricultural Land Commission] Act and the intent of the act, and we will need to look at our options,鈥� Letnick added.
According to Reckitt Benckiser鈥檚 , the company鈥檚 B.C. planting project is part of a program to make its global operations carbon neutral for the period 2006-2017. More than seven million trees have been planted and the goal is 10 million trees by next year.
Staff at the Bulkley Valley Regional District contacted Reckitt Benckiser after its first purchase of lands around Vanderhoof in 2010, expressing concern about 鈥渃entrally located and productive鈥� land being alienated from production. A company representative said only marginal or abandoned land is being used, a claim contradicted last week by Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson.
The company makes popular products including Woolite fabric softener, Calgon detergent, Lysol and Clearasil skin cleanser, which are sold around the world. Its B.C. program is called RB Trees for Change.
鈥淩B does not intend on registering any covenant on title to the lands it has acquired in British Columbia that would restrict the use of such lands,鈥� said Lynn Kenney, communications director for North America. 鈥淚nstead, Trees for Change is a program we have developed to meet our own internal targets for environmental sustainability.鈥�
