Deforestation woes

Sir,

In the last few months, there has been a noticeable acceleration in deforestation across Arran.

It is shocking to discover iconic walks and famous pathways turned into vast oceans of tree trunks scattered about and left to rot without a care for the beauty of the island.

Walking above Whiting Bay or Brodick used to be a joy of bird songs and the rustle of forests. Now it is the continual sound of chainsaws and huge timber lorries hurtling along new Forestry Commission roads – relabelled in tourism parlance as new ‘cycle ways’.

The ultimate irony is to read the billboard at the foot of Glenashdale Falls proclaiming the rich habitation for red squirrels and yet find within 10 minutes one emerges onto a blasted desert of ruination which will take many, many years of replanting.

Instead of a tree-lined gentle pathway up to Loch Garbad you walk among a sea of the decaying timbers more akin to a battleground from Lord of the Rings. Granted these pines were planted for commercial use but who is answerable for such scarring of a beautiful island at such breakneck pace?

And when the tourism industry is green lit to finally begin again, will the Forestry Commission and other parties be held accountable? Visitors will instead choose other islands where they can replenish their post-coronavirus spirits with landscapes rich in greenery and wildlife rather than the brown and ashen greys now spreading across this island.

Yours, James Kent, Whiting Bay.