Would-be environmentalists can do their bit to save the planet by backing efforts to expand Northern Ireland's woodlands, a leading forestry official has said.

Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew has increased the payments to landowners prepared to plant trees.

But with Northern Ireland falling far behind international levels for woodland, the Forestry Service has issued a fresh appeal for support in its campaign to plant the seeds for future success.

The service provides Christmas trees for landmark sites including Belfast City Hall, but its real work goes on in rural areas where it is working hard to make the best use of existing forests, while also trying to create more.

Director of woodland development and strategies Stuart Morwood said Northern Ireland has 86,600 hectares of woodland, covering 6% of land area in Northern Ireland. But he explained that the figure did not stand up well to international comparisons, with the figure 12% in Britain, at a similar level in the Republic, and as high as 33% in Europe.

"Northern Ireland is one of the least forested areas," he said. But looking towards his organisation's plans, he added: "The policy aim is to expand the tree cover. The aim, long-term over 50 years, is to double the land at forest. It's an aim - you can't set targets for 50 years.

"But that calls for developments like the transfer of agricultural land into woodland. That brings us to the levels in the Republic and in Great Britain."

The Forestry Service has set a target of adding 1,650 hectares of woodland over the next three years. But so far, it has proved difficult to reach the target of 550 additional hectares each year. In 2008/09, the first year of the three-year target period, only 289 hectares of private land were successfully devoted to woodland.

For the second year of the three-year programme, the level of uptake is still lower than was hoped. As a result, Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew announced an increase in grant support for private land owners, including farmers, willing to plant trees.

The Woodland Grant Scheme (WGS) rates were increased by up to 30%. The scheme is open to all landowners wishing to establish new woodland.