Disturbing truths behind vandalism

ENVIRONMENTAL vandalism is pernicious and there are many motives for it. It would be easy to dismiss the appalling incident which saw an osprey nesting platform in north Wales destroyed deliberately as the work of mindless morons.

That in itself would be shocking enough. But there are other possibilities which make what happened potentially even more disturbing.

Wales is blessed with its natural heritage. We can all take pride in the varied landscapes that make our country a land of great beauty. But Welsh nature is not simply a twodimensional compendium of pretty vistas. It is a living entity that contains a rich assortment of wildlife.

There are various projects underway aimed at reintroducing species that were once in Wales but have since disappeared.

In other cases new creatures are being bred in Wales for the first time.

The reintroduction of ospreys has been an endeavour that has captured the imagination of people across Wales - those living in urban areas as well as in the scattered rural communities where the birds can be found.

That someone should deliberately ruin a nesting platform the day after the first egg of the season was laid seems at first unfathomable.

Most of us see nothing but good in the protection of the environment and the creatures that live in it.

But there are those who regrettably think otherwise.

Sometimes adolescents take out their frustrations by engaging in environmental harm.

In more serious cases they hurt animals and birds.

Such behaviour can indicate some kind of psychiatric problem that, unless dealt with, could develop into a tendency to be violent towards human beings.

But vandalism can have other causes too.

It may, as has been suggested, be related to circumstances in which there is a dispute between the relevant conservation bodies and other groups who feel threatened by the project concerned.

In this case in particular, it has been mooted that some in the fishing community may resent the very presence of ospreys, which they see as a threat to their livelihood.

Whatever the cause of the vandalism, it is important that the culprits are caught and that robust security measures are put in place to give the birds and their eggs greater protection.