25/06/21 - The true value of commercial woodland, Farming in Protected Areas and strawberries for Wimbledon

Farming Today

• Episode: 25/06/21 - The true value of commercial woodland, Farming in Protected Areas and strawberries for Wimbledon
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:13:41
• Published: 2021-06-25 07:00

What kinds of trees should we plant to sequester the most carbon? Some recent studies have suggested that commercial forestry which grows conifers only acts as a short term carbon sink - but a new appraisal from Bangor University, working with the Govt of British Colombia and the University of Limerick argues that’s not the case. Their findings show that over a timescale of a hundred years, commercial conifer forests planted today could be two and a half times more effective at locking away carbon than new broadleaved woodlands. DEFRA has announced extra funding for farmers and landowners in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We hear response to the new "Farming in Protected Areas" Programme. And for the last 25 years Hugh Lowe Farms in Mereworth, Kent have been supplying Wimbledon with strawberries. We visit the polytunnels to find out what it takes to grow a gland slam fruit. Presenter by Caz Graham Produced in Bristol by Heather Simons