Plans to plant thousands of trees in Carmarthenshire every year have been welcomed but also questioned by councillors. Council chiefs want to increase tree cover on land owned by the authority from 5% to 19% by 2050.
A draft strategy presented to a scrutiny committee said this would require 33 hectares of new trees - roughly 33 rugby pitches - every year for the next 27 years. It said tenant farmers on council-owned farms would need to aim for a minimum of 10% woodland cover by 2030.
Trees lock up carbon and provide other benefits, particularly in built-up towns, but some committee members - while endorsing the tree-planting plan - were concerned about the implications for the council's 24 tenant farms. Cllr Colin Evans said he wondered if 10% tree cover on tenant farms might be onerous and in some cases "impossible to achieve". He added that having land for food production was of "huge importance". You can get more Carmarthenshire news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
