Ireland Pledges to Plant 440 Million Trees Over the Next 20 Years
John Vibes, The Mind Unleashed
Waking Times
With deforestation finally being recognized as a serious environmental issue internationally, efforts are underway across the world to help reverse this disastrous trend.
Officials in Ireland recently pledged to plant twenty-two million trees every year in the country over the next 20 years, with a target goal of 440 million trees by the time the campaign ends.
The plan, which was announced in June, calls for 8,000 hectares—or 19,768 acres—of new woodlands to be planted every year.
A Department of Communications Climate Action and Environment spokeswoman said that many of the logistics of the operation will be handled by the country’s Department of Agriculture:
“The climate action plan commits to delivering an expansion of forestry planting and soil management to ensure that carbon abatement from land-use is delivered over the period 2021 to 2030 and in the years beyond. The plan sets out key actions to be taken by the Department of Agriculture. The target for new forestation is approximately 22 million trees per year. Over the next 20 years, the target is to plant 440 million.”
However, the success of the plan will depend on the cooperation of landholders throughout the country, who the government hopes will be eager to sell their land, or at the very least allow planting to take place on their property.
Still, the goal does seem tangible. In fact, it was reported by the Scottsman that 22 million new trees were planted in the country last year. And according to Scottish Forestry, in 2018, there were 11,200 hectares—or roughly 43 square miles—of new trees planted in Scotland.
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said that roughly 18 million acres of forest—or 7.3 million hectares—are lost every year. To give some perspective on just how big this is, the entire country of Panama encompasses just under 19 million acres of land. The FAO also says that half of the forests in the world have been cleared.
As the Mind Unleashed reported in July, around 350 million trees were planted in a single day in Ethiopia, according to officials, in what could possibly be a new world record.
According to the new study published in the journal Science, planting trees is one of the best ways to help the environment. The authors of the study noted that planting about a billion trees across the globe could remove two-thirds of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.
Researchers believe that the Earth has room for over one trillion additional trees that can be planted in abandoned lots, woodlands and parks all over the world.
By John Vibes | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com