Sir, - Kevin O'Sullivan's article (March 2nd) on the state of forestry in this country made depressing reading. Hopefully the Government and the EU Commission will be influenced by the alliance of environmental groups which are proposing to bring our levels of conifer and broad-leafed trees into line with EU levels. It was encouraging to read that companies in the timber trade are launching a campaign to negate the "threats to the world's forests by indiscriminate cutting of tropical and other forests".
This is encouraging but perhaps we should be more concerned about our indigenous woods. Burt Wood, in Co Donegal, is under threat from a heritage centre which has been approved for a grant of £350,000 from Interreg and the International Fund for Ireland.
At least the argument in Mr O'Sullivan's article is about conifers v broad-leafed trees. In Burt Wood, it's about trees v building sites. Does the Forest 2000 campaign or the Tree Council have a comment to make on this matter? - Yours, etc.,
Michael McGuire, Burnfoot, Co Donegal.