Last updated 09:28, Friday, 02 May 2008

I WAS extremely disappointed to see a thinly-veiled attempt by an organisation representing the interests of grouse moor owners to try to discredit the RSPB (The Cumberland News, April 25).

Of course grouse moors will have larger populations of some birds because they are intensively managed to be sterile killing fields.

All predators are strictly controlled, sometimes outside the law, as in the case of hen harriers, and those birds who do not compete against the interest of the grouse shooting are left to breed in an artificially-protected environment.

There was one very important word missing from the article, and that was; diversity.

I am sure if someone surveyed the same moorland areas with this in mind the results would be very different.

I would suggest that diversity is much more important than artificially-high levels of targets for a few privileged sportsmen.

JOHN WRIGHT
Tithe Barn Hill
Warwick-on-Eden
Carlisle