HEINEKEN, the owner of Bulmers, has been slammed for chopping down a 300-acre orchard - the size of 140 football pitches.

The UK's largest cider maker has felled the huge site - also home to a significant number migratory birds.

Heineken has now "levelled" Penrhos Orchard, on the Offa's Dyke path in Monmouthshire, Wales.

According to the BBC, Heineken uprooted thousands of trees planted in 1997 as it wants to sell the land as they had a surplus of apples - but a demand decline for cider.

Environmentalists have shown concerns about the impact this felling will have on migratory bird populations - particularly wintering thrush species such as fieldfare and redwing, who eat autumn berries then move on to apple crops and have been seen in significant numbers amongst the area.

Though Heineken has insisted it acted in accordance with the Wildlife Act.

People have taken to social media to show their "disgust" over the environmental destruction - which some have described as an act of "violence" and "vandalism".

Others have called action to boycott Heineken products: "Let's hope there's a boycott of Heineken products and that this does turn out to be in breach of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. 

"If the law doesn't protect against this, perhaps it needs revisiting."

Someone commented: "I feel sick reading this. Horrific act of violence. Our heritage - gone."

One wrote: "Shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it. Understandably farmers cannot, and have a lot of rules applied yet large companies can do what they like. Where is the fairness and respect for wildlife?"

Another said: "Disgusting behaviour but what we have come to expect from multinational corporations whose only interest in is profit, usually at the expense of the environment."

British Apples and Pears has now published data highlighting struggles for the top UK fruit growers - the biggest data set ever released at one time by the industry.

It reported that confidence in British apple growing is understandably low - with 70 per cent of growers admitting they are less confident than they were a year ago and almost half (45 per cent) of respondents said they have scaled back their future investment plans.

Just three per cent said they have a "true partnership" with supermarkets, while 45 per cent say retailers only care about price.

The immediate impacts of orchards not being replanted is the loss of British-grown varieties, as well as biodiversity loss.

The issues of trees has therefore been proving controversial, as the BBC report the Welsh Government have been consulting on plans to ensure farmers must grow them on 10 per cent of their land to qualify for an important subsidy scheme.

While ministers say this would help to tackle carbon emissions, many farmers suggested the scheme was unworkable, with 3,000 protesting at the Senedd in February.

However, the scheme is voluntary so Heineken is entitled to cut down the trees on its land and, as it intends to sell it, it would be up to the next owners to decide if they wanted to plant trees if they used it as farm land.

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A Heineken spokesperson said: "In November 2023, Heineken made clear its intention to sell Penrhos Farm in Wales, one of two apple farms which the company owns.
 
"Over a number of years, the cider market has slowed and the yield of apples per acre has increased leading to a huge surplus of apples.   
 
"The bittersweet apples grown at the commercially farmed bush orchards at Penrhos have no other use than creating cider. 
 
"In order to make best use of the land to grow other crops, the bush orchards had to be removed. All the wood is shredded for biomass and the bushes were removed in line with the Wildlife Act. 
 
"We firmly remain a cider, beer and pub company. The cider market has declined over the last few years, but we are absolutely committed to investing in the cider category and returning it to growth. 
 
"As the leading cider maker in the UK, over the last couple of years, we have invested millions of pounds into our cider brands, supported British agriculture and showcased the cider category. 
 
"We continue to source all our apples from around 6,000 acres of orchards in and around Herefordshire and will continue to do so."