SIR – As someone who has studied the subject of ragwort for many years, I was perturbed to see that the Assembly is putting out alarming statements (“Pull up poisonous ragwort now”, May 17) including that “landowners have a statutory responsibility to control ragwort”.
This is most clearly untrue. You may be ordered to control various weeds where it is deemed there is a problem but there is no automatic statutory responsibility on landowners.
The Assembly itself, however, does have a statutory responsibility to promote sustainability and it is most irresponsible of them to put out such falsehoods. Ragwort is one of the most ecologically important plants in the landscape, supporting more than 30 species of insect directly and being one of the best nectar sources for the butterflies that grace our countryside.
It is true that the plant, like many, is toxic and some campaigners make outrageous claims of hundreds or thousands of animal deaths a year. However, we know from research internationally that animal deaths are rare.
Animals instinctively avoid the toxins which are actually found in 3% of all plants. A well-publicised scheme in the Netherlands , where horses are subjected to a post-mortem examination, to rule out other more common causes of the same symptoms, has had no cases at all since 2007.
There is an ancient usage which is ironically relevant in this context. It was once used as a treatment for hysteria.
NEIL JONES
Biodiversity campaigner, Swansea Friends of the Earth
Western mail letter on ragwort 23rd May 2011
