The Reader: More MPs need to follow our lead to protect nature

Boris Johnson has rightly said that we cannot afford to “dither and delay” in relation to the loss of biodiversity. Sadly, a case study in this happening can be found in the heavily Conservative borough of Spelthorne, Surrey. Here, after foot dragging by local councillors and landowners, an exciting project for a nature reserve has been delayed for years.

Along with other local residents, colleagues and I worked (for our part in good faith) to develop a plan for the area to become a venue for nature lovers of all kinds. There followed endless obfuscation from the people we had been dealing with, resulting in the fact that we are not any further forward now than we were when (as we thought) agreement on the plans had been reached.

Is it too much to hope that at least fellow members of the PM’s party will follow his advice?
The Rev Andrew McLuskey

Editor's reply

Dear Andrew

Local nature reserves are fantastic — pocket parks like the two acres of tranquillity at Camley Street behind St Pancras. So good luck with your fight. But we also need to join things up to create natural networks across the country, since biodiversity doesn’t stop at boundaries. I pushed for that in a review I did for the Government last year — and it’s good to hear the Prime Minister wants more protected land. Let’s hope he backs it up with money and reform.
Julian Glover, Associate Editor

Help is needed for loss of smell

I was interested in your columnist Susannah Butter’s experience of anosmia. If you suffer from a defect of vision or hearing, there are hospitals dedicated to either curing you or ameliorating the consequences. For anosmia there is nothing. Two industries profit from this — perfume and food production, but most of their research has been at the applied end of the spectrum. Why is this?
Alan Malcolm