DEAR EDITOR: I have been reading with interest the recent letters on forestry in the Irish Farmers Journal. I graze cattle and sheep in the Bluestack Mountains in Donegal alongside conifer forests, and I would point out that forests make for poor neighbours.

There is the first problem that many conifer owners have no interest in sharing the costs of maintenance of boundary fences once their trees are established.

The second and main problem is the damage those plantations cause to their neighbours’ biodiversity. I have a grazing regime to maximise the biodiversity of the flora and fauna on my land, which is the future for EU subsidies.

We heard at the Teagasc uplands conference in Westport in November that ground nesting birds will not nest within 700 metres of the forest for fear of predators.

No afforestation should be permitted within 700 metres of potential ground nesting bird sites.