"Get into woodlands (as a career choice)", said the former Duke, now King. If only he'd cared about the kingfisher. The Duchy's Head Forester says that walking in woodlands is good for mental health, but his strategy for old Cornish woods wipes out the bird life.
The Duchy of Cornwall acquired a big old woodland near Polbathic in 2019, and a clear-felling of some sections was completed by October: bit.ly/perocto . Parts that aren't now devoid of all trees, are thinned to a level where no deer can feel secure. (That pleasant sense of concealment is gone for a human too.) There was an immediate cull of the indigenous Roe deer when the Wood changed hands. Three sharpshooters who work with the county Council took turns to visit in the late afternoons. (Associates have since been closing the wood for weekend 'hunts' and going after the solitary survivors.) For generations, the biodiversity at Perdredda Wood was a nature-lovers' best-kept secret, but now the place is just a little-known wasteland, biologically speaking. In the western half on Saturday 9 Aug 2025 (away from the A374) there wasn't a single Jay or Woodpecker calling. It had never been like that in over a hundred years. June 2020: Broadleaf trees are near the middle...