On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 18:26:43 GMT, "P van Rijckevorsel"
wrote:


Introductions are a matter of great debate here either, but nowhere near the
problem they are in Australia. The flora and fauna in Europe are pretty
tough so that most invaders have a hard time of it.

Nevertheless from time tot time gardening centers have to be forbidden from
selling yet another cute pond plant or animal when this goes out of control,
being dumped in the wild by garden owners and then running amok.

At one point there was also debate on having the forests here producing more
wood so as to limit wood imports, but the only trees to produce (relatively)
high quality woods are 'exotics' such as Pseudotsuga and Robinia. Nowadays
all the useful trees are weeded out of the forests as 'exotics' and forest
owners are going out of business.

I don't know how it is in the Netherlands, but in Britain forest
owners are going out of business (when they are) because of the low
price of softwoods. Who's doing all that 'weeding' so as to bankrupt
these forest owners? Also I don't know what your definition of 'high
quality' is, but the cost of beech or oak furniture says something.
Over here Robinia isn't much grown, but (for instance) a lot of the
Douglas Fir from north and mid Wales seems to end up in the chipboard
factory at Y Waun - not my idea of high quality.

On the other hand rabbits (introduced by the Romans) are now somewhat
protected, mostly since hunters like to shoot at them.

The Netherlands are a more unusual country than I thought. A place
where the rabbits need protecting in order to give the hunters enough
to shoot at! What form does this 'somewhat' protection take, by the
way?

--
Martin (off-duty)
Chandlers Ford, Hampshire