A PETITION of 100,000 signatures is to be delivered to Buckingham Palace calling on the Queen and royal family to rewild their lands.
BBC presenter and naturalist Chris Packham will lead a procession of school strikers through London to deliver the petition.
Packham has said that the royals must “walk the walk” on climate action.
The Queen and other members of her family will attend COP26 in Glasgow in November. Prince William is currently featured prominently on BBC iPlayer for a documentary series with David Attenborough featuring “inspiring people with solutions to help restore nature”.
As part of the Wild Card campaign, the royals are asked to put their words into action. The family owns around 1.4% of the land in England, according to one estimate.
The campaign organised a letter sent to the royals in June calling for them to rewild the “ecological disaster zones” under their ownership. It was signed by more than 100 prominent individuals including scientists, activists, and TV personalities.
And a recent poll found that 62% of the UK public think the royals should give their land over to nature.
Now, Packham is to lead a procession of more than 100 children and parents, led by a jazz band, from Green Park tube station to Buckingham Palace.
READ MORE: Rewilding scheme to cover half a million acres of the Scottish Highlands
In a press release, the Wild Card campaign said: “Despite the royals being increasingly outspoken eco-warriors, much of their land is considered by experts to be an 'ecological disaster zone', featuring degraded landscapes such as grouse moors and deer stalking estates.
“According to ecologists, royal land has in many places less trees and wildlife than the rest of the UK. For example whilst EU average tree coverage is 37%, Prince Charles' own Duchy of Cornwall estate has only 6% tree coverage!
“Ecologists believe the royal estates would naturally feature beavers, wolves, bison, wild boar, pine martens and white storks (above).”
In reference to this, the procession to take place on Saturday October 9 will also feature a four-metre sculpture of a white stork representing one of the many species which ecologists say could be successfully rewilded on royal estates.
With more than 50% of the land in Britain owned by just 1% of the population, Wild Card say the onus is on the richest to act first to protect the natural world.
The campaign has previously been criticised for "cosying up" to the landed gentry. The attempts to have the royals rewild their land was called the "perfect showcase of the rewilding movement’s inability to comprehend the land question".
The petition, which already has more than 100,000 signatures, can be found here.
Buckingham Palace referred The National to previous comment, which reads: "Members of the royal family have a longstanding commitment to conservation and biodiversity, and for over fifty years have championed the preservation and development of natural ecosystems.
"The Royal Estates are constantly evolving and looking for new ways to continue improving biodiversity, conservation and public access to green spaces, as well as being home to thriving communities and businesses which form part of the fabric of the local community."
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