Should we Destroy Woodland to build Cyclepaths?

Apparently Edinburgh's Sauchiebank Wood has now been basically entirely destroyed to make way for a cyclepath. Those of us who have protested against this destruction are particularly upset about this. We really need to stop destroying nature for the sake of infrastructure. 

Local information boards about the cycle path claim it will 'revitalise underused greenspaces' whereas what has happened is an underappreciated green-space seems to have been entirely destroyed. (I haven't seen the site as it currently is, I'm relying on Crafty Green Boyfriend's observations from when he passed by earlier today).

This is how the woodland looked back in 2020 when I visited it to highlight the threat the cycle path posed to this small woodland. It was a lovely area of trees.

  

Back in December 2021, I blogged about the planned cycle path and protests against it here and here. There's also a blogpost on the Trees of Edinburgh site. The protests were obviously unsuccessful. Apparently, according to this tweet from Edinburgh tree campaigner Andrew Heald, city councillor Val Waker yesterday said: “It is really important that we look after Edinburgh’s wonderful tree legacy for future generations.” So the question needs to be asked, why are we chopping down perfectly healthy trees to make way for a cycle path? 

Cycling is a green form of transport (though the ever increasingly popular electric bike is far less eco-friendly than a traditional bike) but that shouldn't justify destroying woodland! Also, just because few people visited the woodland doesn't mean that it wasn't valuable. It provided a home for insects and birds and a much-needed green oasis in a built-up area.