Farmers with unviable parcels of land should be paid to plant native deciduous trees, according to a county councillor.
Johnnie Wall told members of Kerry County Council that encouraging farmers to plant indigenous trees would not only provide a financial boost to the landowners but would be a major step in lowering our carbon footprint.
The Fianna Fáil councillor stressed that he was referring to unviable land holdings.
“There are a lot of farmers at the side of a mountain on land that is not viable. They could plant trees on it and maybe they would get money towards it. I’m sure that a grant could be given to them; a payment every year for growing trees,” Wall told Agriland.
Trees
The councillor was very clear that the proposed grant would only apply to native deciduous tree species.
“We need deciduous trees in our country. We have mountains of what I call ‘Christmas trees’. They are all the same. We need to plant oak and beech trees and species like that.
“There’s an opportunity now to reduce our carbon emissions while farmers make a few bob out of it. It’s a win-win. They are hoping that we will plant one million trees in Ireland in the next few years, I can’t see why not,” Wall said.
The suggestion comes as the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Pippa Hackett recently announced a change to the Forestry Act 2014.
The amendment will remove the requirement for an afforestation licence for areas up to 1ha and allow for increased planting of small areas of native woodland.
The minister is currently developing a scheme in consultation with industry stakeholders.
Meanwhile, Kerry County Council said that following the publication of the Climate Action Plan, a local strategy will include an increase in tree planting to help absorb carbon dioxide (CO2).
The council said it will be using available grant funding for planting on suitable public lands through the DAFM Woodland Creation on Public Lands grant scheme.
It will also use the funding to examine all of the council’s land assets to assess where opportunities for tree planting may be available.