Planting enough trees may help block predicted greenhouse emissions

Planting enough trees to cover an extra four per cent of the UK in woodland could lock up a 10th of the country's predicted greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century, researchers said yesterday.

Planting 23,000 hectares a year - the equivalent of 30,000 football pitches - in appropriate places would involve changing the use of only four per cent of land in the UK, bringing woodland cover to a total of 16 per cent of the country's land area.

But it could make a "significant and cost-effective" contribution to meeting the UK's emissions reductions targets, under which the country has to slash its greenhouse gases by 80 per cent by 2050, the panel of scientists said.

Forestry can be used to store carbon and be used for fuel and construction material to avoid using fossil fuels.

But carbon storage declines as younger trees - which store more carbon than older forests - mature, so tripling tree planting on current levels could help reverse those declines, the report for the Forestry Commission said.

Using wood products in construction could create the potential to store an extra 10 million tonnes of carbon in new and refurbished homes by 2019, while sustainably produced wood fuel could replace fossil fuels and save around seven million tonnes of CO2 a year within the next five years.

Prof. Sir David Read, who chaired the panel, said: "All our research points to the fact that forestry can make a significant and cost-effective contribution to meeting the UK's challenging emissions reduction targets.

"By increasing our tree cover we can lock up carbon directly. By using more wood for fuel and construction materials we can make savings by using less gas, oil and coal, and by substituting sustainably produced timber for less climate-friendly materials.

"While so many emissions reduction measures have negative connotations, tree planting can be a win, win, win solution: people love trees, we benefit from them in so many different ways, and now we know they could play a significant part in reducing the UK's CO2 emissions."

The study also said trees, particularly in towns and cities, had an important role to play in helping people adapt to climate change, providing shelter, cooling and shade from rising temperatures and controlling rainwater runoff.

But foresters may have to consider planting non-native species, such as those from continental Europe, to ensure our woodlands can cope with global warming, it warned.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said: "Forests and trees are an important part of the way we live and interact with our surroundings, and we cannot underestimate the role that trees will play in reducing our carbon emissions. Greater forest cover can help us achieve this either through directly absorbing CO2 or by providing more sustainable materials for construction and renewable energy.

"Prof. Read's report makes it clear that we will need to build on the work we have already done in order to increase the number of trees in the UK to help us prevent damaging climate change.

"The government welcomes Prof. Read's report and as a nation we need to plant a very large number of trees over the next 40 years to tackle climate change by bringing down our carbon emissions.

"The government will work with communities and businesses to ensure that this happens."

Sue Holden, chief executive of the Woodland Trust, said the conservation charity had been calling for a doubling of native tree cover.

She said: "The UK is one of the least-wooded countries in Europe. There is an urgent need to create landscapes that enable wildlife and people to better adapt to climate change.

"New native trees and woodland would help make existing habitats more resilient and increase opportunities for wildlife to move in response to change.

"They would also substantially improve water quality, reduce flooding, counter air pollution and cool our towns and cities," she added.