PUBLIC debate about the management of Balmoral estate by the Royal Family can no longer be ignored ("Issue of the day: Should the Queen rewild Balmoral?", Vicky Allan, The Herald, December 22).

Successive governments, expert scientists and voluntary conservation interests have all failed to persuade the Royal Family to change the way in which Balmoral is managed for trees, deer and grouse. For example, nearly 20 years of Government-led voluntary deer control schemes have failed to persuade Balmoral and the neighbouring estates to reduce deer numbers down to ecologically acceptable levels so that the natural vegetation can recover from severe overgrazing. No wonder that a year ago the report of the Scottish Government’s Deer Working Group recommended that the Scottish Parliament should instigate a special investigation of the situation at Balmoral and its neighbours. No other part of Scotland was subject to such a recommendation. In other words, Balmoral and its neighbours are amongst the worst estates in Scotland in their approach to deer management and this requires effective intervention at the highest level. Every MSP elected to the Parliament next May needs to be committed to a land use investigation of such estates.

If members of the Royal Family want to see the future they should go for a walk on Glenfeshie estate, on the other side of the Cairngorms National Park. Over the last 15 years Glenfeshie’s Danish owner, Anders Polvsen, has demonstrated through effective deer management how to restore montane and forest habitats. On his estate the Old Caledonian Pinewood is regenerating from the bottom of the glen to the altitudinal limits for tree growth, all achieved without any fencing or planting.

Nevertheless, the Royal Family have already demonstrated a clear and welcome understanding of the crisis facing the planet through climate change and biodiversity loss. The public debate they have stimulated, both in the UK and in distant lands, on these vital issues is impressive. But substantive changes in policy and practice are also needed much closer to home. The regeneration of the vegetation of the Scottish Highlands will make a huge contribution to carbon capture and storage if only red deer populations are managed properly. Balmoral needs to set the standard, persuading other estates to sit up, take note and change direction. When world leaders gather in Glasgow in the autumn of 2021 to debate the climate crisis this can be Scotland’s finest contribution – a demonstration of how the natural recovery of degraded landscapes through the control of overgrazing is a key part of climate change mitigation.

Dave Morris, Kinross.

REWILDING IS NOT A MAGICAL SOLUTION

VICKY Allan’s Issue of the Day article makes several inaccurate and wild assertions.

First, she argues that muirburn is damaging and destructive. This is simply untrue, as evidenced by recent research commissioned by the Scottish Government which found that muirburn provides considerable benefits for a diversity of wildlife, including golden plover, merlin, curlew, whinchat and lesser redpoll.

Secondly, she infers that the Royal Family is somehow obliged to follow the rewilding agenda if it is to save biodiversity and the planet. The notion that rewilding is "the magical solution" to the climate emergency highlights a fundamental lack of understanding of the complexity of issues that surround land use and ownership in Scotland, and patently disregards the fantastic work that is undertaken by many sporting estates to sequester carbon, protect peatlands, promote wildlife and create jobs.

Ross Ewing, Political & Press Officer (Scotland), The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, Scottish Centre, Dunkeld.

THE HIGH PRICE OF WIND FARM CHECKS

ORKNEY Islands Council has requested that the Scottish Government handle the council's own planning application for six wind turbines on the island of Hoy rather than it consider it itself; this is the first of three wind farms it is planning and it expects to submit the remaining two to Holyrood early next year.

To secure installation of a high-capacity interconnector to the mainland – previously widely trailed by the council as necessary to take tidal and wave exports to the Scottish mainland, which output has not materialised to date – planning permission for a minimum of 135MW of new generation is required to be contractually signed up before the end of 2021.

The council has just published "full documentation" on its planning and environmental appeals division website for public access and to facilitate public representations by January 21.

Copies of the Environmental Impact Assessment PDF can be read on screen by paying £15, or a paper copy ordered for £1,250.

Some might question what is going on.

DB Watson, Cumbernauld.

AYE I, I...

JOHN Birkett (Letters, December 24) rightly asks about English grammar taught to Nicola Sturgeon following her letter which includes "I and the Scottish Government ....".

As standards of grammar have been in decline over many years, I suggest that the answer is that she was not taught this courtesy. I often wonder what level of grammar is taught in schools nowadays.

I have a Christmas card from a friend – yes, I have a few friends – beginning with the printed message "From the dog and I".

I and my wife wish you a happy New Year.

David Miller, Milngavie.