Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 985: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if the benefits of more extensive broadleaf tree planting particularly in terms of the quantity of carbon dioxide which can be sequestered per acre of broadleaf trees planted on an annual basis have been assessed. [1458/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The benefits of planting broadleaves are well understood and at the start of the current programming period, 2000-06, an ambitious target was set to increase the planting of broadleaves from 13% of new afforestation to 30% by the end of the programme. I am happy to say that we are well on path to reaching this target, with broadleaf planting now representing some 29% of new planting.

In terms of its contribution to carbon sequestration, current estimates, averaged over the main broadleaf species, indicate that approximately 1.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide can be sequestered per hectare, per annum. This is equivalent to 0.54 tonnes of carbon dioxide per acre. The value of carbon sequestration is not confined to broadleaf species because conifers also sequester carbon and indeed do so at a faster rate initially than broadleaves. Over the long term, however, storage of carbon is similar for both conifers and broadleaves.