The wrong tree?

In your leader of 4 March on saving the Forest of Caledon I was surprised to read of the need to “graft to rid the land of the ‘fast-growing thugs’ imported from the US and Scandinavia for timber decades ago”. I presume these will be the trees we grow to build the houses we live in or which once produced the newsprint for the scots man. never mind the myriad other uses of wood in our everyday lives.

Or does it refer to the agricultural crops and animals that we have brought in over the

centuries that have done most to clear Scotland of ancient forest?

Forestry, a £1bn sector employing 25,000 people across rural Scotland, is not an either/or activity. I fully support protecting and expanding the Caledonian forest, but I fail to see why that means we cannot also plant trees to lock up carbon, provide well-paid rural jobs and increase wildlife, as our modern forests are designed to meet world-leading sustainability standards.

These forests are where the majority of people go when walking or cycling amongst trees; they are also home to a wide range of birds and animals. I’m not aware that either people or wildlife feel threatened by “thugs”. The answer to many questions facing society, and rural areas in particular, is more forests of all types. That should be a shared endeavour, not a zero-sum squabble between people who should naturally share a common vision.

STUART GOODALL Chief Executive, Confor George Street, Edinburgh