October 1st 2021
The National Trust is part of a major new project NetZeroPlus led by Ian Bateman of The University of Exeter Business School.
The project will help the UK's bid to reach net zero by the year 2050 by helping to implement the planting of 750,000 hectares (over 1.8m acres) of trees over 25 years; equal to an area greater than Devon.
Professor Bateman, Director of the Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute (LEEP), said: “Trees represent the most cost effective way of removing carbon emissions from the atmosphere, while at the same time delivering many other benefits such as enhancing biodiversity and delivering recreational and health improvements.
However, planting trees without proper planning could have disastrous consequences, such as when tree-planting occurs on peatland, which can result in releasing into the atmosphere vast quantities of carbon and methane that such areas naturally store.”
Rosie Hails, Director of Science and Nature at the National Trust said: "The National Trust has a commitment to establish 20 million trees over the next decade, this will enable us to make the right choices in where we do that, delivering not only carbon sequestration but many other benefits for people.”
For further reading, please visit sources:
- https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/press-release/partnership-news-story-netzeroplus-project-to-form-vital-part-of-uk-bid-to-remove-greenhouse-gases-from-atmosphere
- https://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_859916_en.html