Northumberland Wildlife Trust chief executive MIKE PRATT considers the transformative opportunities offered by the trust’s landmark purchase of the Rothbury Estate

Imagine a great corridor of land stretching from the coast at Druridge almost 40 miles to Kielder and beyond. A place where every opportunity is being taken to enhance and blend wildlife habitats with sustainable farming. A place where a great traditional estate in the midst of this area has become the beating heart of nature and land restoration alongside nature-focused farming; where wildlife abundance and diversity are being greatly increased to create one of the most wildlife-rich areas of England; a magnet for people to experience wildlife and wilder places.

This is something all Northumbrians can be truly proud of, putting nature back where it belongs at the centre of a living, working landscape with a thriving rural economy and communities.

The journey towards this vision is about to begin on the Rothbury Estate, on the largest piece of contiguous land to come on the market for 30 years and which has now been secured by Northumberland Wildlife Trust and the Wildlife Trusts nationally.

What a few months we have had at NWT, working behind the scenes to help to make this happen . . . Because of the nature of the deal to buy the estate we couldn’t fund-raise or consult on it openly, but we have now secured a large part of the area and this includes the Simonside Hills and a mixture of lowland, woods, riverside and farmland on the western side of the estate. Now we have launched a £30 million appeal to secure the entire estate within the next two years and fund the long-term management of the area, and already many supporters inspired by the vision are contributing in a range of ways. It is a very exciting prospect indeed.

Perhaps the best thing about Rothbury is not just the extent of the estate (more than 3,800 hectares / 9,500 acres), but that it links directly with land already managed and farmed with nature in mind at Hepple, Wallington, Cragside, Otterburn and surrounding smaller holdings. Plus, it links to Northumberland Wildlife Trust nature reserves not far away in Redesdale. Some tenants in and around Rothbury are already practising regenerative farming.

If you look at the Wilder Druridge project we are developing on the coast, and the ambition of large area projects in Kielder, the College Valley, and part of the Hadrian’s Wall area, you can see the beginning of a vast Northumberland nature axis from the coast to Kielder, the Tyne Valley and the borders beyond.

Alongside the work of many other landowners, the National Parks and other charitable and local private landowners, the potential for this project is staggering. It is certainly a big push towards the minimum 30% of our land and sea we need to be connected and protected for nature’s recovery by 2030.

Of course, many who live on or by the Rothbury Estate, or have direct interests in it, or are concerned about tradition, current farming and other land management, may have concerns. We haven’t bought this land to keep it all the same, good as it is in many ways, but the change will be gradual and involve the tenants and farmers who know the land.

We as the Wildlife Trusts want to create opportunities to increase wildlife and nature, to make this area a national exemplar of how nature and restorative farming can work together. It will still be productive, from extensive mixed grazing to local community food, all with an emphasis on nature-friendly approaches.

This is a long view, not a quick fix, and those who want to be involved have everything to gain and nothing to fear. Consultation is the next step, and we intend to discuss options widely, which means there will be plenty of opportunities for people to be involved and to be heard. For now, I want to bring it to the full attention of all Northumbrians that the Wildlife Trusts are taking forward this massive, nationally important nature-led project – something for nature and the nation that could only really happen here.

Personally, I have great hopes and vision for what this might deliver beyond my career and my lifetime. It could take 100 or 200 years to achieve everything we might like to see happen, and by then the rest of the UK will be very different, as will the world, hopefully for the better, for nature and the state of the planet. Rothbury will be at the forefront of a new, larger, linked-up visionary approach. I would love to see rarer and varied breeds of cattle and other big grazers in the valley helping to shape a mosaic of wildlife habitats. I’d like to see more native woodland connecting along more naturalised waterways where beavers and other lost animals are restored, and pine martens and wildcats thriving in the woods. A place with many more insects and a wider range of plants, boggy areas and peatlands, the uplands of Simonside thriving in their micro-habitats and species. But this is only possible with local people and farmers involved, and long-term funds available. Before we do anything, we will survey and create a databank of what’s there to inform what is possible.

I hope people will gravitate towards Rothbury. The estate will showcase how sustainable farming and productivity can mean more nature. The unique history and deep heritage of this area will be celebrated, protected, and interpreted, and youngsters may come to volunteer, study, and find out about how the future countryside works.

More than anything, I would like to see Rothbury become an icon for sustainable living where people, the land and nature are in balance. I think Rothbury will be at the centre of this new big-scale vision for nature and people in Northumberland, with all the benefits that will bring. So, expect to hear more about this place in these pages and elsewhere over many years, because Rothbury ‘nature connect’ has arrived!
Local consultation about the future of the Rothbury Estate will start soon. Meanwhile, as mentioned, a £30m appeal to fund the rest of the purchase and the development of the estate has been launched. Many have already pledged and contributed considerable funds and underlined their interest and intention to work with the trust. You can email Mike Pratt at mike.pratt@northwt.org.uk and further information and a link to donate is available at: https://www.nwt.org.uk/what-we-do/projects/rothbury-nature-and-nation

Mike’s book, Infinite Wonder, Loving Nature Back to Health, is available via Northumberland Wildlife Trust at
www.nwt.org.uk, at selected bookshops, and at: www.livingmindfullywild.com

For nature & nation

Arctic explorer

Kes