Tree planting is one of the answers of the Ministry of Agriculture to climate change, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy stated on Friday in Mosonmagyaróvár at the tree planting event of the National Programme for Creating Woodland.

At the event, the Minister drew attention to the fact that trees contribute to the functioning of a sustainable world in many different ways. He added that as part of the National Programme for Creating Woodland, state forest companies are planting more than 550 hectares of new forests in their own territories, for the purpose of which they are using some two million saplings and almost 100 tonnes of acorns. These new forests will capture 8,000 tonnes of CO2 within a decade. Mr Nagy stressed that we will have to create an appropriate environment for the trees now planted also in twenty to thirty years’ time. He said settlements will be able to apply for funding for planting lines of trees along roads connecting settlements together.

They will also involve those areas intended for damage alleviation in the programme where they wish to improve the state of the soil. The Minister would like to extend these activities to the private sector as well, given that only one half of the two million hectares of forests in Hungary is in state ownership. Farmers have new territories, and this is why the Ministry would like to create an opportunity also for them to take part in Hungary’s largest woodland creation programme, the Minister underlined. Mr Nagy said the Ministry has increased the afforestation grants of the Rural Development Programme by 80 to 130 per cent. Additionally, they are about to launch a new call for proposals with an allocation worth HUF 500 million by using the funds of the National Regional Network of Hungary. As part of the programme to be implemented under the auspices of the National Forestry Association, local governments and associations in the countryside will also have the possibility to apply for non-repayable grants for settlement-level tree planting and the planting of trees in streets and public parks, the Minister highlighted.

(MTI)