by Conscious Reminder
Due to our tendency to exploit the world resources, we have destroyed large swathes of land for personal use. Deforestation is one of the worst things that we did to our planet.
Large areas of forests had been cleared off because we wanted to construct buildings or convert them into pastoral farms. There have been a lot of negative results because of that – climate change being one of them.
But now, we are slowly becoming more aware of our crimes. We are trying to turn back time and plant more trees to bring the world back to its former, safer glory.
Of course, turning back time completely would be such a difficult thing to do. However, small steps matter. Ireland is taking a step forward in this direction.
The Government of Ireland wants to plant about 440 million trees in Ireland by the year 2040 to tackle climate change. The action plan released by the government talks about planting more trees.
Along with that, by 2050, Ireland wants to be a carbon-neutral country. The plan is by increasing renewable energy use, changing the use of land and by imposing taxes on carbon goods.
The figures were disclosed by the Department of Communications Climate Action and Environment.
The target is quite ambitious. It means about 22 million trees have to be planted every year. That would make 440 million in the next two decades. While the number is huge, Ireland believes that it is achievable with cooperation from landowners.
They just have to allow the planting process to take place. The government will pay for it. 70% of the trees will be conifers and the rest will be broad-leaved trees.
This planning process began when a study said that 500 million trees might help fight climate change very effectively. However, many are sceptical and wonder if climate change can really be eliminated by just planting trees. Cutting down emissions would be a better way to do so.
We want many more trees in Ireland, as part of our plan on climate action. 440 million is a huge number but it’s achievable if all landowners plant just some of their land. We are willing to make it financially worthwhile. https://t.co/MmX2sGqXM7
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) September 2, 2019
Ethiopia and India have also taken initiatives to tackle climate change by reforestation. In one day, 350 million trees were planted in Ethiopia – a record number.
Scotland also exceeded their target by planting 43 miles of tress back in 2018. 22 million trees were planted in Scotland. Hence, Ireland believes over 20 years, 440 million trees is possible.
However, England fell short in their reforestation attempts by 70%.
If Ireland wants to succeed, farmers must agree with the plan too. It will be difficult, but the government is trying to convince farmers through different community meetings held all over Ireland.
There are sceptics though. Padraic Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust believes that planting trees at such a large scale would be interfering with nature.
Forests should regenerate on their own and that is by leaving forestry areas alone. About 94 million pounds have been decided upon for this plan which, according to many sceptics, will be better spent if farmers try and rejuvenate lands.
According to many skeptics, keeping the land as it is will help regenerate biodiversity naturally – a much better way than forced replantation.
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