David Attenborough backs £30 million bid to buy historic Rothbury Estate
Sir David Attenborough is backing a bid by environmentalists to raise £30 million to secure vast tracts of upland land for nature.
The Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust are seeking to complete the acquisition of the Rothbury Estate, a 15-square-mile area of ancient grouse moorland, woodland, farmland, streams and rivers; with plans to boost wildlife, regenerate marshes and support green farming.
The historic property is the largest area of land to be offered for sale in the UK for decades and is at the heart of a 40-mile “wilderness” corridor of protected landscapes, nature reserves and wildlife-focused properties stretching from the coast to Kielder and the Scottish Borders, which naturalists say will be available for sale.
Mike Pratt, chief executive of Northumberland Wildlife Trust, said the purchase was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to do something meaningful for nature on a large scale by restoring and protecting habitats, rewilding, increasing access to the countryside and producing sustainable food.
With a year left to raise the £30 million needed to secure the entire estate or risk the land being fragmented and sold for uses that will not benefit nature, such as commercial forestry, Sir David is urging people to support the bid.
In a video supporting the call, the leading naturalist and TV presenter said time was running out to save “the great, heart-shaped expanse of moorland, rivers, forest and upland in Northumberland”.
He added: “People know and love the towering Simonside Hills here, walking the ridges and listening to the calls of sandpipers, watching red squirrels and admiring the views as they scramble among the cliffs.
“They walk the distant paths and marvel at the amazing rock carvings left by our distant ancestors who once lived here,” he said.
Sir David said the Wildlife Trust would work with local farmers and the communities living and working in Rothbury to care for the area, breathe new life into its habitats and create a place where people and nature can thrive side by side. “Please help us make this vision a reality.”
The partnership between Northumberland Wildlife Trust and Wildlife Trusts, a nationwide federation of wildlife trusts across the UK, has been given two years in October 2024 to raise the £30 million needed to purchase the entire property.
Nearly £8m has been raised from donations ranging from £5m to £5m, but the race is on to secure the remaining two-thirds.
The land is home to rare wildlife such as curlews, mountain bumblebees, lapwings, red squirrels, cuckoos and merlins, as well as Atlantic salmon and critically endangered eels, but conservationists say nature could be even richer.
The trusts say they will have a “four-pronged” approach to protect special nature areas and wildlife such as red squirrels that already exist, restore degraded habitats such as native woodlands and drained peatlands, rewild some areas and pursue regenerative agriculture.
Plans include introducing large herbivores, including ponies, hardy cattle and even bison, to graze the land naturally, and there are hopes that pine martens, beavers and golden eagles could recolonise the landscape.
The team will work with local farmers to reduce sheep density, manage land to help nature and use cattle and pigs for sustainable meat production.
Local people will benefit from greater access to the land, with the potential to create new trails, including historic sites across the landscape, develop a visitor and education center and open a dark sky centre, and the trusts said they were committed to boosting the local economy and job opportunities.
Mr Pratt said Rothbury Manor is located in a nature corridor that could be a “dedicated area for the healing of nature”, the only opportunity of this scale in the UK.
He said the Simonside Hills were covered with rock carvings and hill forts, while the wider landscape was a mix of woodland and forestry, grassland, agriculture and grazing, as well as upland bog and wetlands that needed to be restored.
“It’s already a fantastic and interesting landscape but when you look at it in detail, like everywhere else, a lot of the better biodiversity isn’t there as it should be.
“It represents a wonderful canvas for restoring nature in this beautiful landscape,” he said.
He said the trusts wanted to save Rothbury for the nation, saying: “We want to have a nature-led approach with great knock-on effects for people, the economy and recreation.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it’s really about trying to do something big and meaningful and lasting for nature, because my God, nature needs this,” he added.
People can donate to the Rothbury Appeal at wildtrusts.org/rothbury-appeal.
