Dear Sir,
Since conservationists agree that farmers and landowners offer homes to the majority of our wildlife (True Conservation, 20 February) it would be bizarre for any conservation plan not to also explicitly include a commitment to a thriving rural economy.
It is both revealing and depressing that when Defra did exactly this, with its hen harrier recovery plan last month, all those involved, including the RSPB, welcomed it – yet a commitment to a thriving rural economy made it ‘unlike other plans’.
Rob Yorke’s Thunderer (17 February) was not just incisive – it is much overdue.
Yours
Andrew Gilruth
Director of Communications
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
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