Sir, - Are we to believe that of the 1.2 million trees to be planted nationally over the coming year even half will survive more than 10 years?
Normal plantation management requires that seedlings, saplings and trees are thinned regularly to ensure good timber quality. I believe that in 50 years we could expect to see no more than 100,000 of the "millennium trees" surviving after thinning processes and I therefore wonder whose tree those of us who survive will be able to visit in future.
Why has this not been mentioned? Surely a lot more trees need to be planted? Will any more people's forests be planted? What of Charleville Wood near Tullamore, the latest historic forest to be chosen for axing? What of our State lands in the ownership of Coillte, which is spoken of as another State company for privatisation? If the Government is serious about its environmental credentials, surely it should protect our existing heritage. - Yours, etc.,
John Glynn, Clonmannon, Ashford, Co Wicklow.