{"id":14783,"date":"2022-03-22T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T08:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=53729"},"modified":"2022-03-22T09:12:42","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T08:12:42","slug":"can-and-should-the-royal-estates-be-rewilded","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/can-and-should-the-royal-estates-be-rewilded\/","title":{"rendered":"Can, and should, the royal estates be rewilded?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By James Fair\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 22 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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As one of the first major public figures to promote organic agriculture, Prince Charles undeniably has some pretty lush green laurels to garland the head that will one day wear the crown. In that context, he was a natural choice to address last year\u2019s COP26 climate change conference, telling world leaders that \u201crestoring natural capital\u201d and \u201caccelerating nature-based solutions\u201d were part of the solution to the environmental crisis.<\/p>\n

But, as the saying goes, fine words butter no parsnips \u2013 even organic ones \u2013 and Prince Charles and his family could do a lot more to live up to the aspirations he has set for the rest of the planet.<\/p>\n

\""Prince\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Prince Charles visits a Coronation Meadow, part of the Millenium Seed Bank, on Haywards Heath. \u00a9 Mark Cuthbert\/UK Press\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

With this in mind, a campaign was launched in 2021 by a group called Wild Card calling on the royals to rewild their estates. Between them, the Queen and her progeny have an estimated (and very enviable) 1,000km2 under their direct control, with another 1,000km2 of farmland managed by the Crown Estate. The royal family does not manage this land but still benefits from it.<\/p>\n

All told then, that\u2019s 2,000km2, an area about the size of Warwickshire (or a bit smaller than Carmarthenshire, if you prefer your comparisons in units of Wales), where the royals could \u2013 in the Prince\u2019s own words \u2013 \u201crestore natural capital\u201d and \u201caccelerate nature-based solutions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Which, in everyday language, means letting trees and scrub grow as they want, not draining (or digging up) peatbogs, and revitalising wildflower meadows and rivers.<\/p>

And there is plenty of scope for change. Balmoral is still largely run as a traditional shooting estate, which means high densities of red deer continue to inhibit regeneration of natural forests, while large swathes of Dartmoor (owned by the Duchy of Cornwall) are grazed to within a few millimetres of their life by nature\u2019s most efficient lawn mower, Ovis aries<\/em>, more commonly referred to as sheep.<\/p>\n

To help the Prince and the rest of his family in this task, BBC Wildlife<\/em> has had a rummage in the the treasure chest of rewilding ideas and spoken to conservationists who live or work close to some of the most famous royal estates. Here\u2019s what we came up with\u2026<\/p>\n

Duchy of Cornwall, England<\/h3>\n
\u201cIn the future, Dartmoor might become a habitat for long-lost species such as the wildcat\u201d <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>

The Duchy of Cornwall landholdings are concentrated in the western half of Dartmoor<\/a>, and despite its wild beauty and iconic granite tors, wildlife in the national park is a pale shadow of what it once would have been. Only a few isolated spots, such as the haunting Wistman\u2019s Wood<\/a> \u2013 a fern-rich, lichen-clad but tiny 3.5 ha oak woodland \u2013 give a hint of its true nature.<\/p>\n

\""Lichen\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Wistman\u2019s Woods in Dartmoor National Park. \u00a9 Will Tudor\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Much of the Duke of Cornwall, Prince Charles\u2019s Dartmoor estate is let out to sheep farmers, and over the past 100 years or so it has been subjected to intensive levels of grazing. Reducing sheep numbers, or better still getting rid of them altogether and replacing them with lower densities of livestock that have a less devastating impact on biodiversity, would be a crucial first step.<\/p>\n

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A pine marten in Scotland. \u00a9 Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The Duke could look at the example of Piles Copse, where writer and campaigner Guy Shrubsole says the landowner is regenerating woodland by fencing livestock out. Here, cuckoos can be heard in the spring, and doing something similar over a much larger area could eventually make Dartmoor fit for native predators such as pine martens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the medium term, beavers<\/a> would help biodiversity recover in the river valleys, while jays<\/a> would disperse acorns to drive natural regeneration. Further into the future, when the Duke likely succeeds to the throne, Dartmoor might become a habitat suitable for long-lost species such as the wildcat<\/a>, while white storks patrol florally diverse, insect-rich grasslands.<\/p>\n

Royal Report Card for Duchy of Cornwall<\/h4>\n