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2mo ago

David Attenborough Backs £30 Million Bid to Secure Northumberland’s Rothbury Estate for Nature

His video appeal seeks to accelerate fundraising with about £22 million still to find within the campaign’s final year.

Sir David Attenborough, President Emeritus of The Wildlife Trusts, backs the appeal, calling for protection of the area before it’s too late.
The Rothbury Estate stretches over 9,000 acres of land in northern England. For almost seven centuries, it has been owned by the Dukes of Northumberland, but in 2023 it was listed for sale. Now, The Wildlife Trusts, a group of UK conservation charities, is looking to buy it.
Rothbury Estate is home to endangered red squirrels.
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Overview

  • The Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust are leading a national effort to buy the 15‑square‑mile upland estate for conservation and public benefit.
  • About £8 million has been raised so far, leaving roughly two thirds of the target to close before the two‑year fundraising window ends next year.
  • The estate, marketed in 2023 after nearly 700 years of Percy family ownership, is the largest land block to come to market in England in decades and sits at the heart of a proposed 40‑mile nature corridor to Kielder and the Scottish border.
  • The trusts set out a four‑pillar plan to protect key sites, restore peatlands and native woodland, rewild with large herbivores such as ponies and hardy cattle, and shift to regenerative farming, with hopes for species returns including beavers and golden eagles.
  • Campaign leaders warn that falling short risks the land being broken up or sold for uses such as commercial forestry or more intensive farming, which they say would undermine nature recovery and community access proposals.