Funds fix plantings

The Poplar and Willow Research Trust has welcomed increased government funding for tree planting.

Trust chairman Bruce Wills says the extra funding was to repair damaged and eroded landscapes.

“Poplar and willow trees are absolutely the best species for achieving that. It has been reported that land north of Gisborne and nearby Tolaga Bay, which has widely spaced, established poplar plantings, suffered minimal damage at the time of the recent disaster resulting from land planted in radiata pine.”

Bruce says Landcare Research scientists have reported total root length of poplar and willow trees after three years growth from a pole was more than other trees tested (alder, oak, lemonwood, radiata pine, redwood, blackwood, eucalyptus, tutu) by a factor of three to 40 times.

Already more than 200,000 hectares of North Island hill country land is protected from erosion by poplar and willow plantings. Regional councils are actively working with land owners to increase planting of these valuable trees before slips occur.

“This is much the preferred approach rather than waiting until slips occur and then doing remedial planting. Research shows the productivity of land where a slip has occurred only achieves 80 per cent recovery, even after 50 years.”

Poplars and willows have the advantage of being planted as poles for a quick start. These trees provide quickgrowing shelter and shade for livestock either as shelterbelts or as space planted trees on hills.”

■ More information on the benefits of poplars and willows is available at www.poplarandwillow.org.nz including tips on erosion control/spaced plantings being eligible to enter the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).