The Northern Forest will leave uplands bare

sir – The announcement that 62,000 acres of woodland between Liverpool and Hull are to be planted as the Northern Forest (report, January 8) by 2050 sounds very good.

That is until you realise it means planting 100 square miles over 30 years, or just three square miles every year.

The Government says this new Northern Forest will improve the environment and help prevent 190,000 homes from flooding. However, most of the planting is intended for the valleys and around towns, leaving the uplands bare. The highest rainfall and greatest soil erosion are on these uplands, so the greatest effect on flood mitigation or prevention is likely to be in these higher areas too.

Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, should use this announcement as an opportunity to rule that landowners will receive subsidies for hill land after Brexit only if they agree to plant trees, instead of rewarding them for open grassland and sheep farming.

A lot more private planting is also required to restrain the decline of forest land through building railways, houses and roads as our population increases. Professor Arthur Morris

Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire