Letter: Birds at risk

Sir: It is a fallacy to suggest that birds displaced by habitat loss on one part of an estuary can simply move somewhere else (Letters, 19 May). For too long this spurious argument has been used to sanction the piecemeal destruction of areas such as the Severn estuary, which has lost a third of its mudflats through land claim.

The proposed Cardiff Bay barrage will result in up to 5,000 wading birds losing their feeding grounds. Research has shown a direct relationship between the area of mudflats and the number of birds that feed there. If the birds are forced to move to another part of the estuary, excess competition may reduce the feeding success of all the birds there.

Yours faithfully,

GRAHAM WYNNE

Director of conservation

RSPB

Sandy, Bedfordshire