Charity crowdfunds millions to buy historic English estate

A leading UK conservation charity announced Friday it had raised some £30 million (US$40 million) via crowdfunding to buy a huge swathe of rolling moorlands and forests to transform into a sanctuary for biodiversity.

After an intense two-year campaign, the Wildlife Trusts has purchased the whole 3,800-hectares of the Rothbury Estate in northern Northumberland, England’s largest land acquisition in three decades.

The purchase of the sprawling site, as large as central London, will be the opportunity “to create something very special for generations to come”, said renowned environmentalist David Attenborough, who backed the campaign.

The trusts’ director general Craig Bennett thanked the thousands of people who had donated to the campaign.

“Working alongside local communities, farmers and fellow land managers who know and care for this landscape so deeply, we can help this special place continue to thrive,” he added in a statement.

Some £17 million towards the cost of the land was donated by 25,000 individuals.

The estate was sold by the Percy family — the Dukes of Northumberland — who had owned it for almost eight centuries, using the land until 2022 for grouse shooting.

The current duke’s son, Max Percy, said it was too difficult to manage from his home in southern England, and after putting it up for sale in 2023 agreed to give the Wildlife Trusts two years to raise the funds.

The association also received £5 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which finances projects to protect UK heritage, as well as a pledge of £1.94 million from the Department of Environment.

Bordered by several nature reserves and restoration project areas, the Wildlife Trusts and owners of those sites dream of one day creating a 65-kilometre-long biodiversity corridor stretching inland from the estate by the North Sea.

It would provide a much-needed sanctuary for wildlife, such as cuckoos, butterflies, pine martens and golden eagles as well as red squirrels, in the densely-populated, nature-ravaged UK.

The Wildlife Trusts also want to encourage the dozen farmers, mainly keeping sheep, to adopt more environmentally friendly practices, using fewer pesticides and chemical fertilisers.

The UK government is far from its objective to conserve and manage 30% of its land and seas for nature by 2030. According to the Wildlife Trusts, the acquisition of the Rothbury Estate could help it meet its goal.

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