When Ireland fights climate change with trees
We all know that the «climate emergency»Is already a reality and has come to stay hard. Of course, there are some countries that are taking the environment very seriously, including Ireland.
Ireland's climate action plan that we can see from here proposes some strong measures and some quite controversial, but inevitably we need sharp action if we want to see a decent future.
Important investments in renewable energy, sustainable transport, more recycling or a massive effort in tree planting, among many others. They are the batteries of measures approved in Ireland with the intention of reaching the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
We leave an infographic published by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment with the main objectives …
Among the approving objectives, the massive reforestation project - period 2022 to 2030 - hoping to one day have at least 440 million trees planted to help combat the worst effects of climate change.
The trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis or the benefits provided by tree cover, including stormwater control and the promotion of habitats for wildlife, among other benefits.
Over the centuries, Ireland went from having an initial forest cover of 80% to just 1% in 1929. According to the Food and Agriculture Development Authority, Ireland is the only country in Europe in which there has been total destruction of its forests.
Currently, the total forest area in Ireland is estimated at 770,020 ha (11% of Ireland's total land area), the highest level in more than 350 years as a result of successive public policy initiatives. Almost 391,358 ha, that is, just over half, are public property.
According to the objectives established in the document, the planting of 8,000 hectares was proposed each year, without going into details about the type and number of trees (The National Forest Program between 2014-2020 afforestation rates have been an average of 5,500 hectares by year)
This weekend, Irish authorities said the country will plant around 22 million new trees across the country each year until 2040 (Extending the initially established term of 2030). Estimating a goal of forest cover of 70% in conifers and 30% of broad leaves.
What if! the figure is astronomical and although it may seem crazy from the perspective of coherence and daily work to achieve the challenge, we'll see how they do it! We just have to look at India, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in 2016 they planted more than 50 million trees in one day, according to Guinness World Records.
Or see how in Australia it reduces 80% of the use of plastic bags in 3 months thanks to the initiative of two of the largest supermarket chains that banned plastic bags for food.
The Irish Times newspaper noted that the initiative has already faced opposition from farmers, who will need to be persuaded to set aside some of their land for the trees to meet government goals.
The government has defended the climate plan as an imperative step to safeguard the country's economy against the worst impacts of global warming.
Forestry (Set of activities related to the cultivation, care and exploitation of forests) also provides important resources for the supply chain of bioenergy and the bioeconomy in general, as well as for wood products, which can act as a less carbon-intensive substitute for materials in construction and related sectors.
According to a comprehensive study recently published in the journal Science … “Tree restoration remains one of the most effective strategies for mitigating change. This is by far thousands of times the cheapest solution to climate change"And the most effective," said study co-author Thomas Crowther, a climate change ecologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
It must be recognized that other countries are also contributing their grain of sand to the increase in forests.
- From Scotland, 22 million trees were planted last year to help cope with the "global climate emergency" covering 11,200 hectares of countryside.
- From Ethiopia in July, the prime minister commented that they had planted more than 350 million trees in a single day as part of a national effort to combat deforestation and global warming.
- India had a massive planting initiative in 2016, when 50 million trees were planted in one day as we discussed earlier.
Even if some professionals are commenting that this is not the best way to repopulate deforested areas, that nature can regenerate itself and this would be the perfect solution if we let it run its course. Although we understand that nature always knows what is best, given the rate at which we are destroying the planet … Can we allow nature the luxury of doing things at its own pace?
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