Sir, – Much correspondence has been appearing on these pages from so-called naturalists intent upon promoting their idealistic visions of those various cuddly animals and birds whose uncontrolled habitation in our countryside is, we are all told, something to be valued.
It prompts the question: who do they think they are to be lecturing those people whose livelihoods have been earned in the countryside for generations?
Do they really believe that the on-the-ground experts in farming and estate management care nothing at all about native wildlife?
Do they really believe that these same people should welcome with open arms the introduction and reintroduction of species that offer no discernible benefit to the environment but instead should be welcomed so that those with no stake in the outcomes of such introductions can gaze at them through binoculars on weekend rambles that relieve them of the tedium of their normal jobs?
This is not conservation. These people would be more credible if they showed far greater concern about growing levels of predation of our ground-nesting birds by foxes, badgers, crows and gulls, all on the increase throughout Scotland.
It would be helpful also, if they could be sufficiently persuasive with landowners to reconstitute habitats so that our insects and songbirds can regenerate . This constant push for introductions of sea eagles, beavers and wild boar defies any conservation logic.
Derek Farmer.
Knightsward Farm,
Anstruther.
Damage to our countryside
Sir, – I see yet more misinformation is arriving on your letters pages concerning the illegal introduction of beavers into Tayside.
Your latest correspondent stated she is keen to set some facts straight. So keen, it seems, that she missed two of the most important words from her explanation.
Let me help her. The words are illegal introduction.
Whether it be illegal through negligence or a deliberate act is essentially irrelevant.
The beavers causing extensive damage to riverside trees and rendering agricultural land useless in swathes of Tayside are an illegal introduction, and their presence an indication of wildlife crime.
Gerard Watts.
Persie Estate
Bridge of Cally.
Time to cull bigger gulls
Sir, – I note that “conservation experts” fear the kittiwake population of St Kilda is about to collapse.
This is hardly surprising since the small-gull and auk colonies have been harassed and preyed on by the big gulls and skuas for years now and they will eventually abandon this sanctuary.
Closer to home, the huge colony of black-headed gulls on St Serf’s Island, Loch Leven, abandoned their sanctuary after years of predation from big gulls, buzzards and a few foxes.
This was monitored by experts from both SNH and the RSPB.
It beggars belief that these ornithologists have not noticed big gulls evolve from scavengers to primary predators and their prey species have almost vanished.
Global warming and habitat are often cited as reasons but in these cases are patently irrelevant.
The answer is simple and effective. Judicious culling, where and when appropriate, would redress perceived imbalances in our natural world and common sense would prevail.
Michael C. Smith.
Threapmuir Farm,
Cleish.
Kinross.
Traffic killing our high streets
Sir, – I have every sympathy with the small, independent traders of Cupar town centre quoted by your reporter Michael Alexander in his Changing Face of the High Street series of articles (December 13).
Their town has been entirely strangled by traffic, much of it through traffic.
This is one of the reasons I rarely shop in Cupar any more.
I use a powered wheelchair and sitting at that level, the pollution in Bonnygate and Crossgate leaves me with a dry and stinging throat and eyes on even the shortest trip.
Add to that the difficulty of navigating uneven pavements and roads, and problems with crossings and I am afraid I tend to opt for the pedestrianised areas and retail parks of Kirkcaldy and Dundee instead.
Laurie Richards.
100 Crail Road,
Cellardyke.
Make Christmas a family time
Sir, – I noted that a recent letter writer said she could not get a parking space in Dundee city centre.
Really? Unless she needed a specific disabled space and finds it hard to move around, and I apologise if this was the case, there are more than adequate spaces available between Overgate, Wellgate, Gallagher retail park, Olympia, Bell Street, Greenmarket and the variety or other smaller parks such as West Port.
Dundee is not such a big a city that this should be a problem.
It is when everyone wants to park in the same area, then it is laziness.
As the for the rest of her letter, the main part, I totally agree. People lose their senses and feel a need to compete to increase on what they bought last year and buy more food than they could possibly need.
Finally, as she hints at, close all shops on Boxing Day. Make it a proper family time, Christmas as it should be.
Gerard Dignan.
17e Denhead Crescent,
Dundee.
Why advantage for religions?
Sir, – David Robertson (December 12) accuses secular societies of seeking to remove religion from the public square but the group to which I belong, Secular Scotland, has no such aim.
If he wishes to preach his religion in a street, we will not oppose any legal right he has to do so, as long as other users are not inconvenienced, and we do not object to religious campaigners petitioning parliament, forming political parties, advertising, publishing, blogging, or writing letters to newspapers.
That is because all non-violent belief groups have an equal right to advance ideas in the public realm by these means.
What we oppose is unequal rights caused by state discrimination in favour of religions.
Why should selected churches get reserved seats on public education committees?
Why should state-funded schools promote belief in God but not disbelief? Why can’t they leave the question of God’s existence alone and get on with promoting skills, knowledge and considerate behaviour?
A secular state that avoids religious preferences is definitely not seeking to become God, as God’s religious preferences are widely advertised, though disputed.
Robert Canning.
Secular Scotland,
58a Broughton Street, Edinburgh.