YOUR article Wildlife groups axe Bellamy as global warming ‘heretic’ (News, May 15) was certainly news to me.

There is an enormous body of opinion and information which could indicate that man is having an impact on the climate, but the counter view does not get much publicity. So, rightly or wrongly, I have recently been trying to provide some balance in this debate. However, as I have consistently said, I am prepared to change my mind should the evidence warrant it and that I may be wrong.

The real climate debate will be resolved in the court of science, not in magazine articles, by the media nor on the rack of heresy. Celebrity can be both a blessing and a curse and in this instance it worries me greatly that my name and the headlines it inspires have been responsible for reducing this most complex of scientific issues to soundbites. I have therefore decided to draw back from the debate on global warming.

I will carry on working to help stitch the natural history of the world back into biodiverse working order; creating the conditions to allow Mother Nature to better deal with the huge complexities of ongoing climate change.

David Bellamy
The Conservation Foundation
London SW7