Failing to see the woods for the trees

 RICHARDNEGUS SAYS THERE IS LITTLE WONDER THE GOVERNMENT IS FALLING SO DISMALLY SHORT OF ITS TREE-PLANTING TARGETS. NO THOUGHT HAS BEEN PUT INTO THE BASIC LOGISTICS OF GROWING HARDWOOD SAPLINGS AND TRAINING STAFF

TREES ARE “OUR ALLIES IN THE FIGHT against climate change but we need more of them”, the well-meaning champions of copse and spinney The Woodland Trust tell us. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) echoed this sylvan refrain. Their veteran oak of a chairman Lord Deben (the former Cabinet minister, John Selwyn Gummer) recommended to the government that the UK must increase its woodland coverage from the current 13 per cent of total land to at least 17 per cent. In its “stretch” scenario, the CCC suggested 19 per cent of UK land cover should become woodland by 2050 if we are to reach net zero carbon. During the 2019 general election, Boris Johnson grabbed a shiny spade and vowed a Conservative government would provide funding between 2020 and 2025…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, November 2022

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