Radiata & Redwood financial modelling – dashboard upgrade

A few months ago, Scion and Carbon Critical released the Multispecies Dashboard – a free, interactive web tool for exploring and comparing carbon sequestration and growth rates across 11 exotic tree species commonly planted in Aotearoa New Zealand.

In a recent upgrade, the Dashboard now includes financial modelling capabilities for radiata pine and coast redwood. This enhancement builds on research led by Dr Michael Watt and colleagues at Scion, enabling users to assess the financial viability of redwood relative to radiata under different management regimes.

The revised Dashboard features the same intuitive user interface as before: users can mark one or more locations of interest on the map, select species and silvicultural regimes, and generate graphs to visualise outcomes.

The major new feature is the addition of financial performance metrics for radiata and redwood. Users can now view projected cash flows over time and the estimated internal rate of return (IRR), and net present value (NPV) as a function of carbon price. These insights can help landowners evaluate the profitability of planting these two species at a given site – whether their objective is timber or carbon – and exploring key variables such as rotation length and cartage distance.

Scion and Carbon Critical plan to continue development to extend financial modelling to all 11 species included in the Dashboard. They are currently seeking input from growers of eucalyptus, cypress, Douglas fir, and blackwood to better understand the costs and revenues associated with these species.

Explore the latest version of the Multispecies Dashboard.

Source & image credit: Carbon Critical