An aim of the project is to create a native, semi-natural woodland and a field protection tree line.Continue reading
The implementation of the National Tree Planting Program launched in 2019, is progressing at a satisfactory pace, with forestry companies and municipalities planting 184 million trees in recent years, the Minister of Agriculture said on Friday in Leányfalu (north of Budapest), where he held a press conference as part of a local tree planting campaign.
István Nagy explained that the ministry’s leadership sees the country’s forest assets as a strategic element and aims to increase the current 24% of the total forest area to 27%. Forests play an important role in creating a more livable environment, he added. There is a keen interest in continuing the afforestation of settlements as part of the program, which so far has seen 56,000 trees planted in 1,500 towns and villages, with a HUF 2.5 billion (EUR 6.2 million) grant from the ministry.
István Nagy; Photo: MTI/Purger Tamás
The minister also announced that as a continuation of the Country Afforestation Program, farms can apply for a further HUF 64 billion (EUR 159 million) in total. According to the plan, farmers will receive compensation for the loss of agricultural income due to afforestation in the 12 years following planting, and area-based payments will also remain. Special support will be given for the creation of forest belts, tree lines, and wooded pastures.
The minister stressed that the spring planting period of the planting program will start in two weeks. As the interest was higher than before, the
decision was made to increase the number of trees to 21,300, so that the more than 1,700 interested municipalities will have access to trees. By spring 2026, the number of trees planted in rural municipalities will exceed 76,000, with the aim of reaching 100,000 by next year.
Nagy declared that the government will spend three times as much as in the previous budget period, 310 billion forints (EUR 771 million), on preserving and improving the quality of forests. He added that in recent years, the majority of forests have been planted in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg and Hajdú-Bihar counties.
Via MTI; Featured image: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt