Vital role of trees emphasised for National Biodiversity Week

The vital role trees play, economically, environmentally and socially, was emphasised during an educational walk at Belvedere House and Gardens last week, for National Biodiversity Week.

Dermot McAree, director of Crann (‘Trees for Ireland’), led the way and explained to the Westmeath Examiner on the morning that it was an “informal walk through this fantastic place, Belvedere, which has an unbelievable array of different trees and species”.

The participants learned about tree identification, about woodland ecology and the benefits of trees and how important it is to have trees in the landscape – and a Crann objective “to plant the right tree in the right place”, said Mr McAree.

As well as dealing with the importance of trees for wildlife, biodiversity, for economics, and landscape, Mr McAree also spoke about a new area, “called ecotherapy – about how trees and a walk in the forest lower your blood pressure, increases your happiness, makes you relax – you put away your mobile phone and just enjoy nature, be part of nature!”.

He said that Irish people are beginning to appreciate the role of trees in terms of climate change. “I mean I hear things about how we combat climate change, but I’m telling people here today that the most effective way of combating carbon dioxide is to plant a tree.

“A tree, with the chlorophyll, will do it for you, and it’s been doing it since time immemorial.

“So you plant your tree, the magic molecule that we’re calling chlorophyll will take the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and give us the oxygen that we’re breathing – and that’s the simple message that we’re trying to get across today.”

He said that the mission of Crann is to promote, protect and plant – the three Ps.

“We promote the idea of planting the right tree in the right place. We want to get people to plant, Ireland has only 11 per cent of the country under forest, so we want the appropriate trees planted in the appropriate places.

“We also we depend economically on a lot of imports, so we should be thinking in the future about increasing the percentage of woodlands, trees, and forests.

“There are three strands in terms of sustainable land use, and in Crann we are not just saying ‘plant a tree’ – we’re concerned about economic viability.

“You just don’t plant a tree and have it eaten by a goat, you protect it. And the trees that we plant should be socially acceptable – you just don’t plant 100 per cent of trees right up to somebody’s house, you have to study the impact on the landscape.

“If you’re spending a lot of money on tree planting, it has to fulfil those three criteria: economics, environment and social, and that’s the message we’re trying to get across during National Biodiversity Week.”