In the UK, where tree cover is only 12% of the land, the Government has announced the start of a new West Country forest and plans to plant 20 million trees over the next few decades. This follows the successful Midland forest which planted trees in industrial wasteland to link of patches of ancient forest at a cost NZ$120 million over 30 years or NZ$4 million a year. Not a lot of money when spread over decades.
In 2014 a report by Maria Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations claimed that the world would run out of topsoil in 60 years which was pretty frightening and has largely been ignored.
In surveys people are very concerned about water quality both in the taps and in rivers, which is commendable, but our topsoil is disappearing at an alarming rate and, as it only replaces at the rate of 2mm per thousand years, it has to be considered a none renewable resource, whereas we are not running out of water, we just have lots of it in the wrong place.
According to Government statistics New Zealand is losing topsoil at the rate of 192 million tonnes a year which works out at 7.16 per hectare every year, an incredible figure. As we move rapidly into a time when bigger storms will carry away our topsoil and drought will decimate our crops, we need to repair the damage of the past and try to recover the original environment.
New Zealand is alone not in this as land is traditionally cleared by burning the bush, which is indiscriminate but get a quick result with the minimum of labour. Mauri cleared a lot of land but when the Europeans started with logging on an industrial scale and also sheep farming when at least 45 million acres of hillsides were burnt to accommodate 80 million sheep. The bare hills covered in erosion slips are clear to be seen today and are unlikely to be used again productively.
Flat farmland is not the problem as it is either covered in grass for cattle or growing crops and we need the food farmers produce, and the solution is not in planting spruce or pine trees for carbon credits as the trees are felled in twenty years and the land open to erosion.
We need a programme for landowners where low productivity land can be taken out of production and planted with mixed native trees which will be there for centuries. Not necessarily in huge projects but including small patches that fill gullies and link to other woodland.
There is a huge amount of goodwill and enthusiasm for this type of project as we have seen from the John Key ‘Pest Free by 2050’. It may not be achievable, but it is making a huge difference to the wildlife. If we can do it with pests, we can do it with trees
In 2014 a report by Maria Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations claimed that the world would run out of topsoil in 60 years which was pretty frightening and has largely been ignored.
In surveys people are very concerned about water quality both in the taps and in rivers, which is commendable, but our topsoil is disappearing at an alarming rate and, as it only replaces at the rate of 2mm per thousand years, it has to be considered a none renewable resource, whereas we are not running out of water, we just have lots of it in the wrong place.
According to Government statistics New Zealand is losing topsoil at the rate of 192 million tonnes a year which works out at 7.16 per hectare every year, an incredible figure. As we move rapidly into a time when bigger storms will carry away our topsoil and drought will decimate our crops, we need to repair the damage of the past and try to recover the original environment.
New Zealand is alone not in this as land is traditionally cleared by burning the bush, which is indiscriminate but get a quick result with the minimum of labour. Mauri cleared a lot of land but when the Europeans started with logging on an industrial scale and also sheep farming when at least 45 million acres of hillsides were burnt to accommodate 80 million sheep. The bare hills covered in erosion slips are clear to be seen today and are unlikely to be used again productively.
Flat farmland is not the problem as it is either covered in grass for cattle or growing crops and we need the food farmers produce, and the solution is not in planting spruce or pine trees for carbon credits as the trees are felled in twenty years and the land open to erosion.
We need a programme for landowners where low productivity land can be taken out of production and planted with mixed native trees which will be there for centuries. Not necessarily in huge projects but including small patches that fill gullies and link to other woodland.
There is a huge amount of goodwill and enthusiasm for this type of project as we have seen from the John Key ‘Pest Free by 2050’. It may not be achievable, but it is making a huge difference to the wildlife. If we can do it with pests, we can do it with trees
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