MICHAEL HEALY-RAE wants to allow forestry on peatlands, in a move described by climate scientists as “very worrying”, “not a viable option” and “dumb”.

Healy-Rae, Minister of State for Forestry, told the Seanad last week that he and his officials in the Department of Agriculture would look at planting trees on peatland in a reversal of current government restrictions.

Ireland stopped planting trees on deep peatland because it is so bad for the environment.

Healy-Rae suggested the current ban on planting trees on deeper peatlands could result in the country not having enough timber in the future, meaning reliance on Scottish imports, which would be “stupid”.

“If we are talking about protecting the environment, is it not a lot better to have our own produce here in Ireland?” Healy-Rae told the Seanad.

Farmers “want” to plant trees on peatland, and this is what Minister Healy-Rae wants too, the Seanad heard.

‘Environmental vandalism’

Peter Thorne, a professor of climate change at Maynooth University, said afforesting peatlands was “environmental vandalism” and “about the dumbest thing we can do” from the point of view of climate action.

Peatlands store massive amounts of carbon. Planting trees on peatlands dries and aerates the soil, emitting far more greenhouse gas than the trees planted on them can possibly sequester.

“In peatlands, the right intervention is re-wetting and allowing peat to continue to accumulate and store carbon for hundreds of thousands of years. The wrong thing to do is to plant trees on it, which might look better to people because there’s carbon growing out of the ground – but the carbon you’re vandalising is far, far worse,” Thorne said.

Hannah Daly, professor of sustainable energy in University College Cork, said Healy-Rae’s proposal would be bad for both climate and nature.

“This backtracking is very worrying,” Daly said in a post on LinkedIn.

UCD climate scientist and lecturer Florence Renou-Wilson, whose research focuses on peatlands, said planting forestry on peat is “just not a viable option for climate, for nature restoration, for anything”.

“Peat is a huge carbon store – a much, much better permanent carbon store than temporary forestry. [Peatlands] need to be wet to keep this carbon in,” Renou-Wilson said.

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council, an environmental NGO, urged the government to reject any proposal for tree planting on peatlands.

The NGO’s policy officer Tristram Whyte said Ireland’s peatlands must not be treated as “wastelands” to “destroy and turn into industrial forestry”, adding that species including curlew and dragonflies rely on these wetland environment.

“Ireland has a responsibility to protect these landscapes,” Whyte said.

In the Seanad, Healy-Rae was responding to remarks from Senators including Pauline Tully and Joanne Collins of Sinn Féin who called for an end to afforestation on peatlands and for a plan to restore existing forestry peatlands to natural boglands to serve as true carbon sinks.

Healy-Rae said that if no forestry had been planted on peat, Ireland would have 80% less forestry than it has today.

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“If the rules that are applied even today were applied before, we would not have any forestry or timber,” he said.

“That would affect the sawmills that give valuable employment and the construction industry, where we want the timber. We would still need timber in Ireland but from where would we get it? We would have to import timber and that does not make sense.”

Healy-Rae’s remarks appeared to contradict statements by the secretary general of his department last year.

Brendan Gleeson told the Oireachtas Agriculture committee a year ago that while Ireland planted on deep peatlands in the past, there is now greater understanding of the environmental impact this has.

He added that the EU has imposed conditions on Irish state aid to farmers for afforestation – including conditions related to planting on peat. He said he did not expect the European Commission to dilute these environmental requirements.

Minister Healy-Rae and the Department of Agriculture have been approached for comment.

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