People Around The World Help to Buy Huge Noble Estate For Conservation
Sir David Attenborough celebrated the achievement, saying that “together, we’ve achieved something amazing.”
He is referring to the Rothbury Estate, Northumberland, which the UK’s Wildlife Trusts describes as “a place of rare beauty… rolling moorlands, woodlands, and wide-open starry skies.” It has been owned since the 13th century by the Dukes of Northumberland, and has now been purchased by the Wildlife Trusts following an extraordinary funding request that was answered by over 25,000 supporters from 50 countries. Together they raised £30 million ($40 million).
The plan for the estate, which covers 9,400 acres of the Scottish-English border, is to incorporate it into a 40-mile nature corridor that will stretch from coast to coast. It will run from Druridge Bay on the east coast across to an existing nature reserve to the west, and the estate, which had divided this key “moor to mar” ecosystem, right in the middle.
The Wildlife Trusts say: “With the communities who live and work on and around the estate, we are developing a vision for the future management of this remarkable landscape. With nature-friendly, regenerative farming, we will place nature’s recovery at the heart of the estate, while respecting the rural traditions of this region. We will show how nature, community and the rural economy can work together, with people and wildlife thriving side-by-side.”
Sir Attenborough, President Emeritus at the Wildlife Trusts, said: “The Wildlife Trusts called for your support and you answered in your thousands. The appeal to secure the future of the Rothbury Estate in Northumberland has been successful and now the opportunity to bring the vision of a landscape where nature and people thrive side by side can become a reality. This will be a place where nature, community, farming and heritage can combine to create something very special for generations to come. ”
The Duke of Northumberland (currently Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke) still owns and manages approximately 100,000 acres (around 40,000 hectares) of land. The vast majority of which is situated across Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.
