A chara, – Our native red squirrel evidently needs all the help it can get ("Red squirrels' battle for survival hindered by non-native conifers", Home News, January 12th).
Woodlands and forestry plantations are not the only preserve of this creature, as many people will know. Roadside hedgerows and large gardens with decent arboreal cover would also qualify as being in the red squirrel’s “best interests”. Hence the twice yearly cutting back of hedgerows throughout the country ought to be looked at through the prism of conservation, not only for the red squirrel, but for a host of native species. When they’re gone, as the saying goes, they’re gone. – Yours, etc,
PETER DECLAN
O’HALLORAN,
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Belturbet, Co Cavan.