 Our petition to William, Prince of Wales, asking to “Bring back Britain’s rainforest” has nearly reached 30,000 signatures, which is a great start.
Here’s a selection of the comments… “I know Dartmoor well, having been brought up on its edge. Don't fall for the hill farmers' patter! Dartmoor farms produce negligible quantities of food and its farmers' incomes comprise almost entirely of taxpayer-funded subsidies. It would be far better to pay the farmers to manage the land for wildlife. Currently most of Dartmoor is just a bland desert of molinia grasses supporting very little wildlife of any kind. It's time to regrow the temperate rainforests and re-wet the peat bogs.” John L. “Rewilding and recovery of lost ecosystems and biodiversity is proven to have wide ranging benefits to the environment and society. It also unlocks local employment in rural areas of the UK. Huge support for the Duke of Cornwall to show the rest of the UK landowners what they should all be doing.” Oliver W. “If Prince William wants to be seen as being truly eco-friendly then allowing these lands to become rewilded makes obvious and environmental sense to help alleviate the climate crisis we are suffering worldwide. This small island needs all the rainforest we can manage to help restore its rich biodiversity that is being continually destroyed with impunity.” Jason S. “Rewilding in other areas has brought back rare species and produced wonderful benefits for wildlife and humans alike. What’s not to like?” Helen W. You can view and sign the petition here… LET’S GET IT TO 100,000
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 Photo by Eddy Pearce You might have noticed that the Wild Card website has had a little revamp. As part of this makeover we’ve now got a blog area where we’ll be inviting our core team to post their latest thoughts, updates and news as well as inviting guest bloggers to post on specific subjects. This new addition should hopefully make the site a bit more dynamic and engaging whilst giving you a reason to keep checking back! It’s been an exciting beginning of the year for us and lots of work has been going on behind the scenes to ensure that 2023 has the greatest positive impact it can for wildlife and humans alike. Last weekend we joined 3000 other nature lovers on Dartmoor to demand the right to wild camp (thanks for the photo Eddy). We believe having a strong connection with nature instills a desire to protect it. We firmly believe that everybody should be able to access truly wild places.  Wistman's Wood Whilst on Dartmoor we took the opportunity to explore some of the last remaining fragments of temperate rainforest in the area. Yep, you read that correctly - RAINFOREST! Temperate rainforests occur in mid-latitude, temperate zones, in places which receive heavy rainfall due to an 'oceanic' climate. Put more simply: temperate rainforests are very damp woodlands – so damp that plants grow on other plants. A UK temperate rainforest is one of the rarest and most diverse ecosystems that we have in the UK. A good example of this habitat could contain up to 400 different species of bryophytes and lichen and the tree canopies can support a rich diversity of birds; wood warblers, pied flycatchers, redstarts, treecreepers, green woodpeckers, jays… the list goes on.  Lost Rainforest Map Since the death of the Queen, Prince William is now the largest single landowner in England and as the new Prince of Wales, he is now officially the custodian of ⅓ of Dartmoor. Despite always being outspoken about the environment… much of this land is an ecological disaster.
Dartmoor falls under Britain’s ecologically significant ‘rainforest zone’ and believe it or not, should be covered in ancient lichen and moss covered trees, just like Wistman’s Wood. We’ll be launching a new campaign very soon; together, we can help encourage Prince William to take simple steps, like fencing off existing areas of rainforest and allowing it to spread naturally without being grazed by domestic animals. More on that coming very soon. For now please enjoy and explore our new website. |
AuthorOur blog posts are written by our core team and guest bloggers. If you have an idea for a blog post please pitch it to info@wildcard.land ArchivesCategories |
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