Too much money, not much sense

The 'problem' is the same one which has been explained to households in the area with a glossy leafletting campaign by the Conservators and by the publication of their Management Plan.

It is the silent, slow, and stealthy - note the sinister tones - natural regeneration of bracken, gorse and bramble, sycamore, rowan, and birch, on hills denuded by the past grazing of livestock. The Conservators believe this regeneration must be reversed.

I fundamentally disagree with this assertion. We are simply seeing natural healing of damage caused by past human activity. The paths and rides are unaffected by this process - people can still roam freely.

Some species of wildlife will be lost - to be replaced by others characteristic of the mixed deciduous woodland which would naturally cover Britain.

The panoramic views from the ridge are hardly likely to be lost - the soil is too thin in most places to support much vegetation. Elsewhere vigorous efforts are underway to restore ecosystems to their former glory.

Apparently the Conservators would prefer a close-cropped turf devoid of beautiful swathes of golden gorse full of nesting linnets and stonechats (this they call scrub), or deciduous parkland with an even richer bird and insect life.

I am dismayed by the Conservators' stewardship of the land for which they are responsible. Every time I enter the magnificent woodlands clothing the Eastern flanks of the Hills, more mature trees have been felled, while invasive exotic rhododendrons remain untouched.

This is not wholesale felling; it is indeed silent, slow, and stealthy felling which diminishes the woodland nonetheless. Certainly half an hour's work with a chainsaw can be repaired; but it takes a couple of centuries.

Apart from this year, for over a decade the Conservators' contractors who make hay on the commons have been cutting earlier than the July 16 date universally recognised by conservation organisations as the very earliest to allow the fledging of ground - nesting birds such as skylarks, and the setting of seed by annual herbs.

By their works ye shall know them, not by their Management Plans. The difficulty is not too little funding; the Conservators accrue over one third of a million pounds each year, mostly from local council taxpayers. The problem is unnecessary and destructive environmental tampering resulting from the availability of too much money. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Dr D V Willetts, Churchdown Road, Malvern, Visiting Professor, Faculty of Science, Engineering and the Environment, University of Salford. (via e-mail).