News from the village of Ardentinny, Argyll, Scotland.
We are indebted to our friends at ForArgyll for bringing to our notice the Scottish Government licencing of a seal cull which will see the unnecessary shooting of some 1,300 pregnant seals. Read the full story here.
What you can do
Write to your local MSP here. A useful text template is available here.
With the work continuing in the forest behind the village to control and eradicate Rhododendron and clear much of the forest floor, the village today was bathed in smoke from the burning vegetation.
The UK government is preparing plans to sell off more than half of our national forests to private firms. This could mean ancient woodlands are chopped down and ruined. Woodland wildlife would have to make way for Centre Parcs style holiday villages, golf courses and commercial logging.
We need to stop these plans. Ancient forests like The Forest of Dean and Sherwood Forest are national treasures- once they are gone, they will be lost forever. A huge petition will force the government to rethink its plans. If we can prove how strongly the public are against this, they will have to back down. Please sign the petition now.
The Forestry Commission has confirmed that the chemical spraying signage near the beach picnic area relates to the control of Japanese Knotweed. The chemical used was Roundup Pro Biactive, applied at recommended rates. You can download a useful guide on identifying and controlling Knotweed here (pdf 953kb).
13 Aug. Additional update from Mr. Russell Lamont, FCS:
1. The spraying is to control the spread of bracken.
2. The spraying is being undertaken on Forestry Commission ground, which is tenanted by Mr Marshall.
3. Product being applied – Asulox.
4. As I have already indicated in this instance FCS were unaware of the operation prior to it being undertaken. If this operation takes place in the future we have indicated we must be informed. This information will be conveyed to the community.
12 Aug. We have received the following from Mr. Russell Lamont, Environment Manager, Cowal & Trossachs Forest District:
I understand you have been informed that the helicopter operations highlighted on your web site, dated 8th August, were being undertaken on behalf of David Marshall.
We were unaware of the work and temporarily suspended the operations until we were satisfied that all the relevant paperwork was in place. I can confirm all the necessary requirements have been met and we are content to allow the operations to continue.
I have been informed this may be as early as 13th August, depending on the weather.
8 Aug. A helicopter (reg no. G-WEGO) could be seen over Cnap Reamhar (the hill behind Ardentinny village) on Sunday afternoon in what appeared to be aerial crop spraying. Hopefully the Forestry Commission will be able to provide us with more details on this shortly.