Should we plant aload of trees to save the planet?

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo · 15-05-2019 8:06pm #1

Ireland's countryside is fairly nice. But once you're not near the coast it does feel a bit too much like a giant sprawling farm. There's so many cows on grass.

Wouldn't it be nice to return some of that land to forests and bushes and wildlife and that?

Could the government set up a fund to buy land off farmers that don't want to use it anymore. We're going to have to spend about 150 million on carbon credits as a nation soon. So the money shouldn't be an issue. The choice is buy carbon credits or buy land to plant real forests.

Ubbquittious · 15-05-2019 8:08pm

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Ireland's countryside is fairly nice. But once you're not near the coast it does feel a bit too much like a giant sprawling farm. There's so many cows on grass.

Wouldn't it be nice to return some of that land to forests and bushes and wildlife and that?

Could the government set up a fund to buy land off farmers that don't want to use it anymore. We're going to have to spend about 150 million on carbon credits as a nation soon. So the money shouldn't be an issue. The choice is buy carbon credits or buy land to plant real forests.

Yep and they should get rid of the subsidies for sitka spruce.

Could spend the millions buying land in some poor country and plant a load of trees on that instead. better value for money and you reduce your worries about cheap imports coming in from that country at the same time

KSU · 15-05-2019 8:10pm

You mean something along the lines of these?

https://www.forestryfocus.ie/growing-forests-3/grant-schemes/

[Deleted User] · 15-05-2019 8:10pm

Did they not do this in Leitrim?

I'm not from the County, but I think some government initiative was launched for growing trees and Leitrim was the guinea pig? I heard about it on a radio show, and people were giving out (as you'd expect) but not sure what the issues they encountered actually were.

pgj2015 · 15-05-2019 8:33pm

4068ac1elhodqr · 15-05-2019 8:34pm

Ireland with the lowest % of broadleaf forestry cover in Europe, missed it's 2017 target of planting over 7,000ha by over 20%.
(Trees generally like carbon, but susbsidised spruce plantations don’t offset carbon emissions and are driving bird species to extinction).

This month, is only the 2nd country in the world to declare the 'de green emergency'.
Anyone else smell a new wave of citizen (not corporate) stealthy green taxation on the way?

Zorya · 15-05-2019 8:39pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Did they not do this in Leitrim?

I'm not from the County, but I think some government initiative was launched for growing trees and Leitrim was the guinea pig? I heard about it on a radio show, and people were giving out (as you'd expect) but not sure what the issues they encountered actually were.

The issue is the midlands and west being planted with monoculture forests whose fallen needles acidify the soil and water, not to mention the phosphate that leaches from the plantations, and that the wood is fit for nothing at the end, and the harvesting is brutal and leaves whole swathes of country side looking like the wastelands of Mordor, all so global corporations can boast about their shagging carbon sinks....

Anyway plant trees. Proper trees. Proper beautiful trees. The best time to plant them is 50 years ago, the second best time is now.

_Brian · 15-05-2019 8:40pm

Rather than buying land they could improve the existing forestry schemes. Far better return on investment regarding money spent and trees planted, plus you have someone to tend the trees included.

The natural native scheme should be bolstered up to last the lifetime of the forest providing its managed properly and continuous canopy managed.

I know many smaller farmers who would jump at a decent scheme to plant some land but the smcurrent schemes aren’t fit for purpose.

Grant for Stika spruce should be hacked back, it does nothing for the environment.

_Brian · 15-05-2019 8:41pm

Why is happening in Leitrim is a disgrace with immense swathes of the county gone into spruce it’s a dead zone, the botanical equivalent of a nuclear bomb.

riffmongous · 15-05-2019 8:47pm

With that much money being wasted they could hire a few more people to work on the new plantations too rather than just rely on private plantings, I know of a lot of people who would like to get into forestry but can't since they don't have any land

Guy:Incognito · 15-05-2019 8:47pm

Plant loads of them at sea, like wind farms.

s7ryf3925pivug · 15-05-2019 8:56pm

The forestry grants aren't enough of an incentive and should be increased. Generally it's better to keep farmland as farmland from a financial and hassle point of view.

I looked into buying a local field and planting trees on it, but it would have been too big of a financial hit, especially with natural woodland.

SEPT 23 1989 · 15-05-2019 9:13pm

We could transplant the mature trees to the countryside that are being ripped up to make way for buses in the city

frag420 · 15-05-2019 9:16pm

Nah op, a hug will be fine...

Harry Palmr · 15-05-2019 9:18pm

Mature trees often die when moved due to loss of roots.

Monocrop evergreens should be banned and the land they sit on rehabilitated then replanted with native species.

TuringBot47 · 15-05-2019 9:42pm

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Plant loads of them at sea, like wind farms.

God no, the coastal areas of Ireland are the rich tourist and commercial hubs. The midlands are the wastelands that could do with reforestation.

Same with Australia, the coast is developed...the midlands is an desert.

gogo · 15-05-2019 9:42pm

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Mature trees often die when moved due to loss of roots.

Monocrop evergreens should be banned and the land they sit on rehabilitated then replanted with native species.

Enlighten me, monocrop/monoculture? Planting one type of tree? Planting the wrong type of tree? Both?

Sunny Disposition · 15-05-2019 9:43pm

Yeah, heaps of trees.

Patty Hearst · 15-05-2019 9:50pm

_Brian wrote: »

Why is happening in Leitrim is a disgrace with immense swathes of the county gone into spruce it’s a dead zone, the botanical equivalent of a nuclear bomb.

Witnessed this myself recently in Leitrim. I was genuinely shocked at the destruction and post apocalyptic vibe of the landscape.

Kivaro · 15-05-2019 9:52pm

Very interesting thread. Thank you.
So yes, let's plant more of the right-type of tree. Lots of them.

Cookie_Monster · 15-05-2019 10:56pm

Yep, plant billions of trees, create a lot more national parks to protect them, use any marginal or unproductive farmland lying around.

NZ is on a plant a billion trees mission at the moment, a combination of natives and productive plantations. Can't go wrong, timber is a resource that will never not be in demand and at least plantation is better than nothing.

It's not the be all and end all solution but it's such a cheap easy step a part of the overall process.

Should we plant aload of trees to save the planet?

Comments