The need for afforestation has never been more obvious. Given the positive impact woodland has on alleviating flooding and on reducing the effect of greenhouse gases, governments within the European Union are giving serious consideration to planting more trees. But the argument in favour of trees does not revolve about ecological issues alone. There are also strong economic, social and aesthetic considerations to be taken into account. Here in this State, we have particular needs because of the gross deforestation that was implemented for security reasons over centuries. And we are failing to meet current planting targets.
Within the next few weeks, every household in the State will receive a certificate saying that a broadleaf tree has been planted for it. It is a positive exercise, designed to mark the millennium in a novel way while making the public more aware of its environment. The cost of £5 million has been borne by the National Millennium Committee and the Allied Irish Bank. And the scheme is being managed by Coillte in partnership with the Woodlands of Ireland Group.
More than 1.2m trees, including alder, ash, birch, hazel, oak, Scots pine and yew have been planted in fourteen Coillte-owned forests scattered from Derrygorry in Monaghan to Rossacroo-na-loo in Kerry in an attempt to restock Irish woodlands with native species. Seeds for the project were collected in 1999 and germinated at the semi-State company's Aughrim nursery in Co Wicklow, last Spring, before being planted out in recent weeks. The certificate for each household will identify the number of the tree and its location in a particular forest, but will not specify the species. Should the householder choose to visit the forest and seek out the tree, however, it should be possible to identify it. The bulk of the trees are oaks.
Anything that makes the general public more aware of their environment, and more interested in protecting it, must be beneficial. Planting a tree for every household is a fine gesture. But it should not be allowed to distract us from some unpalatable realities. One of those is that the State and the farming community is failing to meet tree planting targets set down in the National Forestry Strategy. It was hoped to plant 60,000 acres of forest annually, but only about half of that is now being planted, most of it in coniferous trees.
We have come a considerable distance in sixty years, mainly through an intensive State afforestation programme. The result is that 9 per cent of our landscape is now under trees. But it is still a long way short of the 17 per cent target that has been set for 2030, when the State is due to become self-sufficient in timber. In the past, there was considerable criticism of the spread of coniferous plantations, with the result that the government set a target of 20 per cent for broadleaf planting. In spite of special financial incentives, that ambition is not being realised. However, if the EU revises its grant system to encourage the planting of forests as "carbon sinks" and to counter global warming, that could change. This millennium project is a bright and creative gesture that has emphasised the need for diversity and for the replanting of native species.