Forestry and wood products

Sir, – Dr Annette Jorgensen (Letters, August 17th) puts up a plea for large areas of land to be set aside for rewilding, etc, and continually refers to the "monoculture" planting of conifers. This might have been true historically in State planting but private afforestation contains between 30 per cent to 35 per cent hardwoods, much of it native species. If commercial forestry does not support sustainable jobs, as she claims, how is it that 12,000 people are employed across the sector? And if there is to be no commercial afforestation, where will we purchase much-needed timber for building houses, etc? The Amazon? – Yours, etc,

GILL McCARTHY,

Shillelagh,

Co Wicklow.