Mr. John Spink:

No. After a forest is planted, it absorbs very little carbon for the first few years. There are also emissions associated with establishing it in the first place. It takes a number of years before the trees start growing rapidly and they are not absorbing much carbon until they are growing rapidly. There is then a period when the forest is mature or reaching maturity when it is absorbing a huge volume of carbon. If early harvesting of forests could be avoided or delayed, they would continue to accumulate carbon for a number of years.