3 Trillion trees

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

I may be setting myself up for a blasting here, but in terms of the UK an awful lot could be done in terms of increasing tree cover if we abolished upland sheep farming.

 

Each sheep farmer monopolies huge tracts of land to graze sheep which is not only hugely environmentally damaging but also ridiculously uneconomic (on average UK sheep farmers receive nearly three times their net income in subsidies- which is crazy)

 

If the uplands were left ungrazed they would 'rewild' with trees and shrubs, greatly increasing our tree cover and transform a barren landscape into rich biodiverse, flood alleviating carbon sinks.

 

The shepherds could become woodland managers and all the world's ills would be cured!

 

Here's an interesting reference -

 

http://www.efncp.org/download/EFNCP_wood_pasture_productivity_research111213.pdf

 

Perhaps a 'break' from grazing whilst the scrub reestablishes, then a phased reintroduction of grazing to a greatly enhanced landscape would even benefit the hill farmers through better quality forage for the flocks. When will the policy makers start thinking in periods of 100's of years rather than 10's or 1's?

[shavey]

I heard a short report on the radio that in 2014 the world lost 14 million acres of trees

 

But another frightening thing is that Brazil is now exporting 30% more wood related products since this time in 2014