Alongside the Prince of Wales title, the heir to the British throne also inherits the Duchy of Cornwall, a vast and lucrative portfolio of commercial and private real estate, plus lots of farms and more. Here in America, we have “federally protected land” – in the UK, the Duchy of Cornwall is more like a protectorate of that kind of land. Take, for example, Wistman’s Wood on the Dartmoor Estate. Wistman’s Wood and Dartmoor are part of the Duchy, and they should be labeled some kind of federally-protected temperate rainforest, a vital part of the local ecosystem. But instead, it’s in “private” hands, William’s hands. Thankfully, William agreed with the thousands of campaigners who were trying to get the Duchy to do more to protect the land – William recently announced that he would do just that, and he even did a photo-op at Wistman’s Wood this week.
Prince William plans to double the size of a tiny fragment of rainforest on his Dartmoor estate, the Duchy of Cornwall has announced. Wistman’s Wood is one of Britain’s remaining ancient “temperate rainforests”, brought into the public eye after environmental campaigner Guy Shrubsole’s bestselling book on the subject. Described as “haunting”, and “magical” by visitors, the Devon woodland is just 3 hectares (7.4 acres) , and walkers are periodically banned over fears of damaging the delicate ecosystem. Overgrazing of sheep and cattle in the area has also been an issue.
It is often referred to as one of the south-west’s last remaining examples of temperate rainforest, and came within Prince William’s purview after he inherited the duchy, a large landholding including the greatest privately owned area of Dartmoor national park, from his father, King Charles, when he succeeded to the throne. The duchy has been criticised for failing to protect the sites of special scientific interest on its Dartmoor estate.
The duchy said on Monday it aimed to regenerate and at least double the size of Wistman’s Wood by 2040, including expanding wood-pasture habitat. The royal estate has been working with Natural England to restore the woodland and will allow it to regenerate naturally by reducing cattle grazing – using a virtual electric fence to protect sensitive areas, and improving footpaths so the public do not stray into the regenerating woodland. The Duchy will also plant some new trees by seed collected from the ancient wood.
Campaigners have long been calling for the duchy to take better care of the ancient woodland on its estate, and they were pleased to hear this now appears to be happening. One group, Wild Card, delivered a 70,000 signature petition to Prince William asking him to expand temperate rainforest. Shrubsole, author of The Lost Rainforests of Britain, said: “This is fantastic news – temperate rainforest used to cover 20% of Britain, including large swathes of Dartmoor, but centuries of deforestation means it now covers less than 1% of the country. The duchy’s plan to double the size of Wistman’s Wood through natural regeneration is an awe-inspiring example of farmers, landowners and ecologists working together in partnership – and is vital to make this tiny fragment of temperate rainforest more resilient to the impacts of the climate crisis.
This story was sent to me with the criticism that William is “taking credit” for something campaigners have been demanding for a while. But it actually looks like – to me – that William was presented with the campaigners’ appeal and he thought it sounded like a good idea, so he agreed to make changes? Like, wasn’t that the goal? I realize William sucks ass most of the time, but in this very limited issue, his actions are fine and even admirable, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing that he’s getting partial credit. Now, do I think he came up with the scheme to ensure the woodland’s survival? No. It was, as I assume, presented to him as a proposal and he probably just signed off on it.
Photos & IG courtesy of Kensington Palace.
Attaching himself to others good works. That’s Peg for you. Can’t come up with something good on his own because he is a rotten evil being. More photo ops nothing more.
@susanCollins, yes he is, this has been in the pipeline for at least the past 5 years that I know of. I used to live in a beautiful little village called st Germans where I had a protected woodland view from my lounge and the tamar estuary to my left, all part of the Dutchy. For closeness to the hospital I had to move to my currant bungalow in saltash. This is just a 10 minute drive from the Dartmoor national park. Whilst I was able I used to go out onto the moor every week and there was work going on then to protect the wood
My signature must be on every petition they had from Princetown, to oakhampton and Tavistock
So I know this prince pratt is jumping on a fully loaded wagon
A scientist raised an issue, the public got on board, and William did the right thing, which his father clearly refused to do. I don’t expect him to be an expert in temperate rainforests but I do expect him to do right by them when informed.
Wooton the worst
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/14yfrsj/allegations_of_stalking_harassment_blackmail_and/
Reminds me that Wooten is getting called out for predatory behavior in light of the Huw situation in the uk.
Wooten is scum of the highest order
He needs booting of and kind of media and I hope that his disgusting past bites him in the ass big time, and the Sun should be shut down
As someone born and bred in North Devon (yay Exmoor) I’d like him to F-off back to Cornwall.
But yes, however this happened it’s a positive and I’d like him to realise that he can get good reactions by wielding his executive power like this. I don’t know who brought this to his attention and encouraged him to go with it (we all know he’s not one for reading up on things) but props to them.
Does Wales not get warm weather in the summer? Or is this photo old? It looks like the same outfit he wore in that pic with his father where they actually look like they like each other.
If something positive is getting done great.
We all know William is only too happy to take credit, when he likely did next to nothing but have his photo taken.
Still, any positive outcome is something.
Well, I’m glad people campaigned for this. I’m glad he signed off on it. Bc would William have had the foresight to do this idk? Maybe it will have his team looking at what else could be potentially protected. It makes me wonder what William could be doing if he wasn’t hiring his staff with Tory govt. people and sycophants. Or bound to Murdoch and the other tabs. Oh well.
This is cool! Maybe William should do that feudal thing where your subjects come calling on you, sitting on your throne, and ask you for favors. Grant the favors, that’s all you have to do!
Moors seem like “natural” environments, but in England, many really are man-made, from unregulated burning, overgrazing, peat extraction, deforestation, etc. Eventually, moors find their natural functions (e.g., bird nesting), so it’s interesting to see which moors become “protected” as moors and which need to be “fixed.” Of course, there will be enough of that biome on Dartmoor to serve that function; it’s just an interesting question re: conservation.
The land should be given to the people and why did he feel he had to do a photoshoot to announce that he’s complying with activists wishes?
@susanCollins, yes he is, this has been in the pipeline for at least the past 5 years that I know of. I used to live in a beautiful little village called st Germans where I had a protected woodland view from my lounge and the tamar estuary to my left, all part of the Dutchy. For closeness to the hospital I had to move to my currant bungalow in saltash. This is just a 10 minute drive from the Dartmoor national park. Whilst I was able I used to go out onto the moor every week and there was work going on then to protect the wood
My signature must be on every petition they had from Princetown, to oakhampton and Tavistock
So I know this prince pratt is jumping on a fully loaded wagon
Is that a crown logo on his jacket sleeve?
Just so he’s aware it’s HIS jacket? Oy.
Only 3 hectares? That’s the area of 4 soccer fields. The average person could walk the perimeter of a field that size in 7 minutes. It’s great that it’s going to be protected and expanded but it’s so sad that so little remains.
The latest in the Wales’ Daily PR.
“Prince William plans to double the size of a tiny fragment of rainforest on his Dartmoor estate, the Duchy of Cornwall has announced.”
Yeah, no.
Only England would think doubling a tiny fragment of land is a win, for anyone.