A CARDIGAN climate scientist is one of the driving forces behind the Trump Forest Project - a campaign to plant trees to compensate for the impact of the US President’s climate policies.

The project has been started by campaigners including former Cardigan resident Dr Dan Price, whose family still lives in the town, who are upset at what they call the president's "ignorance" on climate science.

President Trump has pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, saying it will damage the US economy, cost jobs and give a competitive advantage to countries such as India and China.

Trump Forest allows people either to plant locally or pay for trees in a number of poorer countries. The organisers say they need to plant an area the size of Kentucky to offset the Trump effect.

The project is the brainchild of Dr Price, ex-journalist Adrien Taylor and political scientist Jeff Willis, all of whom were spurred to action by a sense of frustration and fear of the Trump administration’s destructive impact on the planet.

Based in New Zealand, the project began in March last year and has gained pledges from all around the world, with more than 1.1m trees so far pledged.

Dr Price, who has been working in Antarctica and has seen the devastating effects of climate change close up, estimates that they will need to offset 650 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2025 to compensate for the president's policies.

That translates into more than 100 billion new trees but despite the massive scale of planting needed, the campaigners believe it can be done.

“We have tapped into a global sense of frustration with the president's climate change policies,” said Dr Price, a former pupil at Cardigan School.

"We want to plant a global forest that will offset all of the emissions that the Trump administration puts in the atmosphere. It sounds a bit ridiculous but it is completely feasible.

"We kind of want him to love the forest; this is his forest after all. We would love it if he tweeted about it.

"All we're trying to do is pick up the slack he has created and do the work for him. So if he wants to take ownership of this forest just like Trump vodka and Trump Tower, we would welcome that; the phone line is open. So, Mr President, if you are reading this..."