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The rush to plant trees to offset carbon emissions could have a harmful impact on Australia’s native environment if it is not carefully managed, some of the nation’s leading ecologists have warned.

Professor David Lindenmayer of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) and the Australian National University (ANU) says scientists are concerned that a poorly-planned plantation boom could cause needless land clearing, add to invasive species and damage natural ecological processes.