Letters

Growing and costly mistake

Ed, I can no longer remain silent on the removal of Maclean’s Camphor Laurel trees in the park. Nicki Holmes (CVI 24/2/16) claims she speaks for the community when most people I know in my industry understand that Camphor Laurels are devastating huge areas of cropping, grazing and bushland from Yamba to the Qld border and beyond. As a working horticulturist and bush regenerator I have devoted over thirty years working towards the eradication of a tree that nothing grows under and fish will not live or spawn under their canopy. I am continually removing them from my property as they are prolific. These weeds were introduced in the same era that gave us rabbits, foxes, cane toads and lantana. It may sound good calling them our heritage but not all European heritage in Australia deserves to be retained. I call them a growing and costly mistake. So much energy has gone into saving these exotic weeds when hectares of native forests are still being destroyed. Remove them and replace them with native heritage trees we can be proud of in 100 years’ time. Graeme Gibson, Chatsworth