Eamon Ryan has not ruled out compulsory land purchase to increase national park sizes

The minister said farmers will also have to play a part and will be encouraged to plant parts of their land in forestry to meet our carbon reduction targets.

Mr Ryan said native temperate rainforests need to be restored at scale if we are to protect biodiversity and native species.

"I think there are areas where we can start extending our national parks and creating really special areas. We will put money into that, we need to."

Mr Ryan highlighted 4,900 acres of private land in Glenasmole Valley, near the Dublin-Wicklow border, which was put on the market by Nama in 2016.

"I suggested to Michael Ring who was the minister at the time: 'Surely we should buy that', which we did for a really good price. And now that land is an extended part of the Wicklow National Park, Dublin Uplands National Park.

"We can start to really look at rewilding places like that. It gives us not just a kind of a beautiful island to live on, but it gives us resilience, it gives us biodiversity. These indigenous forests, these indigenous trees have real advantage for us in terms of ability to cope with local conditions," Mr Ryan said in an interview to mark the Irish Examiner's sustainability month.

Only 2% of the country is covered by native woodland and, according to The Plant Atlas 2020, more than half of Irish native plant species are in decline.

Mr Ryan said he would not be against the buying up of land through compulsory purchase order in order to restore biodiversity.

However, he said he doesn't want to "scare" farmers and other landowners. It would have to work in a way that people have a sense of pride in being part of.

"I am discussing this with my colleagues, and I think we will start to see planning for much, much more ambitious plans around particularly the likes of national parks. 

"That's absolutely where we probably have huge potential and potential I mean, it's not just from tourism of local recreation, there's also a value to nature."

"We are selling ourselves as a green country, we have to be green, in reality, if we want to do that.

"So that type of model where you're looking at where we can purchase land and extend parks and really develop much bigger, more dramatic park areas. I think that absolutely makes sense and is where are we will look to go."

He said there is now a "real opportunity" to reverse the damage that has been done to our environment over the last 50 years.

Mr Ryan said young farmers are the "frontline climate heroes of the future" and must be given financial incentives to diversify.

"The are the one who will be improving water quality, restoring soil health, restoring insect and bird life, the people who manage our land are going to be the key people and we have to pay for that, pay them, through a whole different variety of sources," he said.