Laura McCarthy, Shandangan West, Carrigadrohid, Co Cork

DEAR SIR: It has come to my attention that the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht is currently reviewing section 40 of the Wildlife Act.

This deals with controls on hedge cutting times. Landowners and certain farming associations argue that the closed period for hedge cutting should be shortened to 17 March to 31 July.

This would be very harmful to farm biodiversity, especially nesting birds. Yellowhammers, a threatened bird species already, nest well into August/September. Cutting too early would worsen their status.

Regular trimming of hawthorn and blackthorn reduces flowering and fruiting potential, a loss of a major food source for many species.

In fact, the closed period should be lengthened if anything.

Relict hedgerows are of much more benefit to wildlife. Nature prefers disorde.

On my farm, we have let blackthorn grow as standard trees thus providing a habitat for a rare lichen of the area.

Modern farming is obsessed with structure and uniformity of the countryside, which has impeded biodiversity targets.

We as farmers should be honoured to be the custodians of the Irish landscape. We should work with nature not against it.