“An act of rewilding from the royal family would be of massive cultural significance,” said Joel Scott-Halkes, a co-founder of Wild Card, “and would show the royal family is prepared to put climate commitments into action.”The royal family is the biggest landowning family in the UK. By one calculation that includes the crown estate, which is, officially owned but not controlled by the Queen, the royal family owns 1.4% of England. The royal family “could be leading on restoration and rewilding at landscape scales,” he said, “rather than being seen to be dragging their feet”. The campaign wants the royal family to focus first on degraded land that has very little biodiversity, said Scott-Halkes. The hope is that a first commitment from the royal family will spur other large landowners to prioritise nature.

Source: The Guardian June 09, 2021 04:52 UTC