The National Trust in the UK has pledged to plant 20 million trees over the next 10 years to help the charity achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2030. The organisation has budgeted £100m for the project, which will see new trees and regenerated woodland on its properties covering 44,000 acres in total.
The trust is also increasing the maintenance of peat bogs on its properties, and investing in renewable energy to help lessen its own carbon footprint – as well as encouraging visitors to use sustainable transport to its sites.
Tree planting and woodland regeneration will bring 17% of the trust’s land under tree cover by 2030 (up from 10% currently), and it says a similar increase in tree cover is needed nationally if the UK’s target of net zero emissions by 2050 is to be met. Only about 13% of the UK’s total land area is covered in trees currently, compared with an average in the EU of approximately 35%.
Reforestation is a growing trend as it becomes more widely accepted as one of the best ways to mitigate the climate crisis, with high-profile figures such as Elon Musk donating major sums of money to the cause. Some scientists have raised doubts about the numbers of trees needed to counteract climate change (ie, that it will be practically impossible to plant the number required, and not enough will reach maturity in time), and say we should instead be focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency. However, the fact remains that planting trees does have a mitigating effect in terms of carbon capture, and if anything such doubts merely point to the reality of us needing a variety of solutions working together (rather than a single ‘magic bullet’) to save the planet.
further reading…
The National Trust in the UK has pledged to plant 20 million trees over the next 10 years to help the charity achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2030. The organisation has budgeted £100m for the project, which will see new trees and regenerated woodland on its properties covering 44,000 acres in total.
The trust is also increasing the maintenance of peat bogs on its properties, and investing in renewable energy to help lessen its own carbon footprint – as well as encouraging visitors to use sustainable transport to its sites.
Tree planting and woodland regeneration will bring 17% of the trust’s land under tree cover by 2030 (up from 10% currently), and it says a similar increase in tree cover is needed nationally if the UK’s target of net zero emissions by 2050 is to be met. Only about 13% of the UK’s total land area is covered in trees currently, compared with an average in the EU of approximately 35%.
Reforestation is a growing trend as it becomes more widely accepted as one of the best ways to mitigate the climate crisis, with high-profile figures such as Elon Musk donating major sums of money to the cause. Some scientists have raised doubts about the numbers of trees needed to counteract climate change (ie, that it will be practically impossible to plant the number required, and not enough will reach maturity in time), and say we should instead be focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency. However, the fact remains that planting trees does have a mitigating effect in terms of carbon capture, and if anything such doubts merely point to the reality of us needing a variety of solutions working together (rather than a single ‘magic bullet’) to save the planet.