Plant a tree for the Jubilee
BLEEDING stumps and destruction wherever I go!
We are destroying our trees and bushes much, much faster than we are planting or allowing them to grow. Road safety, new housing, Western Power, Openreach, storms, ash dieback, productive farming and a new threat, trees and hedges for woodchip boilers.
There is always an excuse. Down they come, leaving great bare gashes in our scenery, a sight to depress people and a tragic loss for our wildlife and the fight for our climate.
The situation is dire. We must all of us pick up a spade and plant, plant trees and bushes wherever we can find a space. Now is the time to plant and never has the need been more urgent, so join with me – plant and watch them grow. Plant a tree for the Jubilee!
Our farmers worry that Big Business is buying up good land to blanket-plant with unsuitable trees.
If they want the support of the wider public in their protests, they must show they are the true guardians of the countryside by restoring its beauty and value for wildlife and climate, starting with the hedges.
A thick, high hedge bright with blossom and bees in spring, glowing with nuts, berries and birds in autumn, is a joy for people, a saviour for our wildlife and a bulwark against climate change.
Just allowing hedges to flourish – wherever it is safe to do so – is the quickest, easiest, cheapest way to revive our dying landscape.
If we continue with this devastation we will soon have a land that is nothing but stunted hedgerows, huge farm buildings, wind turbines and conifer plantations.
And then, will all those visitors want to drive so far to fill that multitude of cottages and caravans?
Bring back wild West Wales! Plant a tree for the Jubilee!
Denise Horton
Newcastle Emlyn