The duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, two of the royal family’s largest portfolios of land, have snubbed tree campaigners who are calling for the royals to rewild their estates.
Rewilding advocates at the campaign group Wild Card have been meeting for months with the crown estate, which manages most of the royal land and pays the revenue into the Treasury. They say relations have been “really positive”.
However, the duchies are separate to the crown estate, and not subject to the same level of accountability. The two organisations – described by the land campaigner Guy Shrubsole as “medieval anachronisms” – manage more than 73,000 hectares (180,000 acres) of royal land between them, with all profit going directly to the royal purse.
Both estates have lower levels of tree cover than the national average. The duchy of Cornwall, run by Prince Charles, has only 6% tree cover, and the duchy of Lancaster has 13%. The average in the UK is 16%, while in Europe it is 38%.
But neither have responded to repeated requests from Wild Card for a meeting about afforestation, and sources say they have ruled out ever meeting the rewilders.
“The duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster have categorically ruled out meeting with our campaign. This is an appallingly undemocratic affront to our futures,” said Emma Smart, campaigns manager for Wild Card, which has highlighted the lack of forest cover on royal land.
The group has delivered a 100,000-signature petition and emailed the duchies on nine occasions, but has had no response.
Wild Card is asking the royals to practise what they have preached during the Queen’s jubilee tree-planting scheme and allow more trees to grow on their own land.
Across the country, people have been asked to “plant a tree for the jubilee” to mark the Queen’s 70-year reign. The Queen’s Green Canopy scheme will dedicate a network of 70 ancient woodlands across the UK, and identify 70 ancient trees to “celebrate Her Majesty’s 70 years of service”.
Joel Scott-Halkes, a co-founder of Wild Card, said: “Given that the ancient medieval duchies are exempt from freedom of information requests and corporation tax, it is sadly little surprise that they consider it beneath them to engage with a democratic people’s led campaign. If they don’t rewild soon, it would be understandable if people proposed their abolition.”
Royal land is broken up into the crown estate, which is roughly 116,000 hectares, the duchies, which between them are just under 75,000 hectares, and some other smaller holdings.
The crown estate belongs to the reigning monarch “in right of the crown” – it is owned by the monarch for the duration of their reign by virtue of their accession to the throne. It is not the monarch’s private property, and they cannot sell it – all profits go directly to the Treasury, which then passes a portion back to the crown.
Unlike the duchies, representatives from the crown estate have been responsive to Wild Card. Hazel Draper, the communications coordinator at Wild Card, said: “We’ve had several positive meetings with the crown estate and things are looking really positive. They’re clearly keenly aware of the urgency of the climate and ecological emergency, and we believe a nature restoration commitment may soon be on the horizon.”
The duchy of Lancaster owns about 2,020 hectares (5,000 acres) of grouse moors on the North York Moors and about 180 hectares (450 acres) of grouse moors in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. Campaigners have said much of this land lies on peat bogs, which should be allowed to grow wild to sequester carbon instead of being used for grouse shooting.
The duchy of Lancaster comprises almost 18,500 hectares and made £20m in profit in 2018. The duchy of Cornwall has 54,632 hectares, nearly double its size in the Victorian period. This makes the Prince of Wales the biggest private landowner in England.
Last year more than 100 scientists wrote to the royals asking them to help tackle the biodiversity crisis by rewilding some of their vast estates. The duchies have yet to respond.
This comes after the Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) scheme was found by Wild Card to be sponsored by companies accused of links to deforestation.
A spokesperson for the royals previously told the Guardian: “Each company who has generously supported the QGC is committed to rigorous and challenging targets on both deforestation and biodiversity.”
The duchies have been contacted by the Guardian for comment.
