To help cities and towns realise more forests, Flemish Minister for the Environment Jo Brouns (CD&V) has worked out a scheme under which local governments can receive up to 90% subsidies for the purchase of land earmarked for afforestation.
The Flemish government wants to work on forest expansion. To encourage local governments to realise additional forests, Minister Brouns is now launching a subsidy call. The subsidy amounts to a maximum of €7/m2 and covers up to 90% of the purchase costs. However, some conditions apply. For instance, the purchased land must be planted with forest within five years. Projects that are not realised on time risk losing the subsidy.
In total, Brouns provides an amount of €40 million. The subsidy scheme runs for the entire legislature.
The call focuses on projects with clear ecological and social added value. These include forests near residential areas, play forests, urban fringe forests, or afforestation in and around special protection areas (Natura2000). In doing so, the government also encourages projects with "broad local support," especially with the involvement of residents, schools, local associations and private owners.
The minister says he also wants to support municipalities in their application. For instance, they can search the forest opportunities map for the best locations on their territory to create new forests. These could, for instance, be vacant plots of land that have great potential to be developed into forests.
For Minister Brouns, the project is not just about more trees and greenery. "Forests are not only a source of biodiversity and natural cooling, they are also places where people meet, where children can romp and where young and old can catch their breath."
