DEAR EDITOR

Forest consultants have stuck rigidly to the mounding method of planting in these later decades.

The mound drains have now contributed to the windthrow problem.

I’ve lost 15 acres of a 1990 plantation, an adjoining 30ac 1995 plantation is 75% damaged while a 5ac plot I did in 2006 was 30% windthrown.

In all cases, it was the mound drains running north south that started the domino effect.

I had planted two other plots for shelter, also in 2006, on higher more exposed ground, one of a quarter acre, seven rows of spruce, the other half acre – 10 rows.

These I did on the flat ground with the spade and none were affected while locally there are many spruce shelter belts around dwellings and haggards going back to the 1950s that have withstood the gales, so it’s time to reconsider the planting methods and avoid having mound drains as the roots will not cross them and allow a root mat to form.

Forest owners have been doing their bit to mitigate climate change, sequestering carbon that other sectors are responsible for, helping to reduce flash flooding and timber imports.

Ironically, we are now the victims of climate change and are faced with financial losses.