Timber growers insist planting more trees is natural form of flood control

PLANTING more trees is a natural and effective flood control measure, the Government has been told.

It follows the failure of the country’s river drainage systems to cope with the recent deluge which caused devastation countrywide.

The Irish Timber Growers Association (ITGA) said forests can play a very important role in regulating water flows. They reduce runoff and, therefore, the flood levels of the streams and rivers flowing from forested areas.