Hungary will begin a massive forestation project to stave off the effects of climate change, Agriculture Minister István Nagy has confirmed.
The forestation program’s main element consists of at least doubling subsidies to farmers who begin planting forests, especially on lots less suited for crop farming, he said. Respective state subsidies will be increased by 80 to 130 percent.
Rmx.news highlights that the subsidies will also be available to those forestation programs that are already underway, but haven’t yet been completed.
Hungary currently has two million hectares (4.9 million acres) of forests which absorb from the atmosphere four to five million tons of carbon dioxide a year or about seven percent of Hungary’s total CO2 emissions.
Nagy added that this year some forty million saplings have been planted over an area of 5,000 hectares.