Eastbourne five-year-old receives letter from Buckingham Palace

Matilda Haffenden, from the Langney area of Eastbourne, wrote to the Queen asking her to ‘rewild’ the royal land as part of a call to action from new campaign group Wild Card.

Matilda’s letter said, “To the Queen. Please can you think about rewilding your lands. David Attenborough has asked us to rewild the earth and we all need to try and help. We watch Chris Packham on TV and he wants us to help the planet and I do too. Love Matilda Haffenden, Age 5”

In response to this, a letter from the palace said the Queen was ‘encouraged to learn of your interest in environmental issues and was touched that you should choose to share your thoughts with her’.

Matilda said “I’m really excited to get this letter from the Queen. I love nature and I want to help the planet.”

Emma Webb, Matilda’s mum, said, “Matilda feels strongly about helping the environment. Even though she is only five she likes to help where she can. She regularly takes part in local beach cleans with the Mucky Mermaids and was a Planet Protector at nursery.”

Last month a group of Britain’s most famous nature lovers including Kate Humble and Chris Packham pleaded with the Royal Family to super-charge the restoration of the country’s endangered wildlife and landscapes by staging a ‘rewilding revolution’ on the royal estates.

The Royal Family directly controls 250,000 acres of land via its private estates and the two royal duchies, and owns a further 336,000 acres of land through the Crown Estate; an area of land six times bigger than the Isle of Wight.

More than 100 celebrities, scientists and public figures signed an open letter to the British Royal Family organised by environmental campaign group, Wild Card.

The campaign group aims to see 50 per cent of the UK ‘rewilded’ and believes the largest landowners must lead the change.

The letter says, “As our nation recovers from the Covid-19 crisis, and we look to the world outside our windows to nourish and inspire us, we call on you to lead the way in healing our land.

“We ask you to seize this moment to restore and rewild the royal estates, bringing the hope of renewal and regrowth to the people of this country. Protect us, guide us, rewild us.”

TV star Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who signed the letter, said, “A decision by the Sovereign and the rest of the Royal Family to restore ancient forests and support the return of lost wildlife to their lands could quite literally change the course of natural history in our country – and play a massive part in counteracting the alarming loss of biodiversity and the worst impacts of the climate crisis.”

Emma Smart, ecologist and co-founder of Wild Card, said, “It is time for the Royals to act now. We praise Prince Charles for taking a stand for environmental causes globally, and Prince William for his founding of the Earthshot prize to fund climate solutions over the next decade.

“However we also need to focus on the environmental threat closer to home – the shockingly low biodiversity in huge tracts of the British landscape.”

People are invited to join the campaign by writing to the royal family to ask them to rewild royal land.

For more information go to: www.wildcard.land