young protesters outside of Buckingham Palace delivering the letter
Did you know that 50% of the UK’s land is owned by less than 1% of the population?
This fact has sparked a massive campaign for major landowners to rewild their estates.
Wild Card is a UK NGO “that challenges high-profile landowners to take responsibility for the nature and future of this nation by rewilding their land.”
Last week they organized a protest outside of Buckingham Palace during which a child hand delivered their open letter to the royals. Their petition has been signed by over 100,000 people.
Their next campaigns are addressed at two more major landowners: the Church of England and the colleges of Oxbridge.
Their premise is simple:
“The British countryside is dying. The ‘green and pleasant’ land may look lush, but in reality the diversity of the life in Britain has dwindled to a terrifying low. Pollinator numbers are falling, ecosystems are beginning to collapse and species are dying out fast.”—Wild Card
So if the Royal family is serious about their commitment to nature they should be looking at their own backyard first. The royal estates account for a glaring 1.4% of the UK’s landmass—an area twice the size of Greater London (850,000 acres).
Most of the royal land is grouse moore—often burnt, and deer-stalking land—left artificially barren for sport. We have become so accustomed to the rolling farm hills of the British countryside, that we forget that once a temperate rainforest flourished in these areas teeming with biodiversity—but it can come back.
