Climate change: Cold callers shock farmers with tree-plant plea

Farmers are being "cold called" by agents working for investors who want to buy farmland to plant trees that would offset their carbon footprint.

Farming unions claim "powerful players are seeking to offset emissions" at the expense of rural communities in what one politician called a "land grab".

Land agent Savills said it has made "direct approaches" to farmers in Wales on behalf of clients.

One of those approached said they feared farmers were an "easy take".

Kyra Somerfield said she was "annoyed" and "shocked" by the unsolicited call from Savills to ask if she was interested in selling the 220-acre family farm in Carmarthenshire where she has lived and worked for 60 years.

The 83-year-old is worried the nature of Wales could change forever if productive farm land is converted to forests.

"If we do go along those lines of covering our uplands with trees, the nature of Wales would change irrevocably," said Mrs Somerfield.

"Once land goes from productive agriculture into forestry, it will never return. The potential would be an upland clearance of Wales."

The Welsh government, which declared a climate emergency in 2019, has said it needs to plant 86 million trees by the end of this decade to meet its net zero target by 2050.

But farming unions say people and companies should reduce their own carbon emissions rather than "offset our way to net zero".

Over the past three years, the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) says 75% of the biggest plans for planting trees on Welsh land came from outside the country.

Any proposal to plant over 50 hectares of woodland in Wales - the size of about 93 football fields - needs an environmental impact assessment, but the FUW says only 25% of those plans came from land owners based in Wales.

The situation has angered Mrs Somerfield, who said: "It's the element of being taken for granted, that I could easily accept this type of offer.

"It's probably cutting my nose to spite my face in a way, because I'm sure a lot of people will make money by such sales. But I'm not prepared to do so.

"They may be able to dispose of land that is too hard to farm, because on the whole the number of people engaged in hill farming are getting older, they're getting fewer - and the demands of agriculture today are becoming greater."

Mrs Somerfield hopes her 16-year-old grandson Lewis can continue her farming legacy and take over Cruglas farm near Llandeilo, where she rears 300 sheep and 30 beef cattle.

"They'd be taking away everything that my grandparents started," said Lewis, who is currently studying agricultural engineering at nearby Gelli Aur College.

"They're willing to pay more than the land's worth, just so that they can get the land, which leaves the farmers with no option really.

"Everyone's struggling and wanting more money so if somebody comes along and says we'll take your issues away and here's some money, most people would do it."

Savills confirmed they are making "direct approaches" on behalf of "investors" adding that the land had "already been screened for its suitability" to plant trees.

The head of forestry for Savills said "investors have an important role to play in the delivery" of the Welsh government's tree-planting ambitions.

"The increasing importance of environmental governance has widened interest in acquiring land to create new woodlands," added James Adamson.

"The land market is small and the amount of land that comes to the open market that may be suitable for tree planting is only a small proportion of the overall potential land area.

"In order to accelerate the rate of potential tree planting we are making direct approaches to owners of land that may be suitable rather than wait for land to come to market."

Plaid Cymru's Welsh Parliament member Mabon ap Gwynfor has called it a "land grab" of Welsh farmland.

"This is nothing more than greenwashing in order to ease the climate conscience of large corporations and effectively allow them to continue with their dirty industries," said the Dwyfor Meirionnydd MS.

The FUW said while it supports "enhancing and expanding woodland within farmland", it added it is "concerning that outside investors are directly targeting Welsh farmland to purchase for tree planting and presumably capitalise on the carbon market".

"Displacing existing ownership and family farms will be detrimental to the wider rural economy and community, Welsh culture and food security," the FUW said in a statement.

"A balance must be struck that ensures vulnerable landscapes, communities and industries do not suffer as powerful players seek to offset their emissions, as opposed to reducing them in the first instance. We cannot offset our way to net zero."

The Welsh government said it wants to "create a Wales that is resilient to climate change" and has set up working group to help farmers to "be at the heart of woodland creation".

"Most recipients of funding so far have been farmers, or woodland management experts," said a government spokesperson.

"We see farmers and applicants as the stewards of our countryside in Wales, and consider them all essential in helping us realise our ambitious plans to create a national forest that both we and our future generations can benefit from."