Who's to blame for the ecological apocalypse? | Letters

Readers respond to Chris Packham's recent observations on environmental destruction, and to the suggestion that one positive step would be for us to give up our petsIf we've normalised the ecological damage we are doing to our country, as Chris Packham suggests, it's only because as individuals we feel helpless (Packham: 'We are presiding over ecological apocalypse', 11 June). As it is, the signs are extraordinary, and not just the absence of iconic species like butterflies, bees, frogs and hedgehogs. I have noticed a decline in the number (and size) of ticks, for example, and houseflies and greenflies - even dung flies - are actually rare this summer.If we do not mourn their decline we are foolish - no flies means no maggots, which means no cleaning up of the dead badgers Packham mentions; no greenflies and ticks means less food for some species up the food chain, which is presumably why there are no birds on our feeders these days. It really does feel like an apocalypse, and yet the government still drags its feet over the poisons which have almost certainly caused it.Jeremy CushingExeter Continue reading...