I was distraught watching a team from Network Rail chop down dozens of trees near my house, and even more outraged when I found out that this is happening all over the UK. Network Rail have already done this to thousands of trees across the country, and they plan to cut down millions more - unless we stop them now [1] .

I heard the noise of the chainsaws on the railway tracks behind my house this April. Running towards the sound I saw a group of men chopping down tree after tree, leaving nothing but tree stumps and wood chippings in their wake.

Shockingly, this is taking place during spring nesting season when nesting birds are protected by the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside act. Either they are destroying nests, or they are chopping down the trees before the birds have a chance to nest - which is hardly any better.

Even outside of nesting season, trees are established natural habitat for countless protected and unprotected birds, bats, butterflies, bees and a whole range of other animals and insects. Network Rail has evicted the resident wildlife and destroyed their natural established homes.

They say they're felling the trees for safety reasons and to reduce delays caused by fallen leaves, and that they check for nesting birds before cutting down trees. But these are their own in-house assessments that we cannot publicly verify, and from what I could see they were chopping down every tree in sight. It's wrong and it must be stopped.

More trees are being chopped down right now - I urgently need you to sign this petition and stop Network Rail before too much damage is done.

[1] The Guardian