Forget wind farms, and grow more trees to protect our landscape

After a heavy downpour here in the upper Bandon river valley, every hill stream starts thundering downwards.

Soon after the start of heavy rain, even from a distance from the road, you can see the water rise and go white on the close-cropped hillsides.

There is far too little tree cover on the slopes around Shehy and Nowen hills to absorb the rain and slow down the run-off. Yet, Coillte is about to make things worse by allowing the erection of huge towers for wind generation, with all the associated hard standing.