Cumbria Wildlife Trust crowdfunding to buy and rewild Skiddaw, a former royal hunting ground

Press release from Cumbria Wildlife Trust (5th September 2024):

CUMBRIA WILDLIFE TRUST ASKS PUBLIC TO HELP BUY SKIDDAW FOREST AND CREATE ENGLAND’S HIGHEST NATURE RESERVE

Cumbria Wildlife Trust announces the launch of a major public appeal to help buy Skiddaw Forest, including the summit of Skiddaw.

• 620 acres of lost Atlantic Rainforest will be restored in Cumbria thanks to The Wildlife Trusts’ partnership with Aviva

• Skiddaw Forest in the Lake District covers 3,000 acres of currently ungrazed upland 

• Over 2,200 acres of other habitat will be restored including montane scrub, wildflower grassland, heather moorland and 992 acres of peatbogs

• Open public access to this popular fell – including Skiddaw’s summit – will be secured  

• Internationally important site for nature and geology will be protected forever

Cumbria Wildlife Trust announces the launch of a major public appeal to help buy Skiddaw Forest, including the summit of Skiddaw. The charity aims to restore a huge, lost area of Atlantic rainforest as part of its 100-year vision for bringing back wildlife to the lower slopes of what will be the highest nature reserve in England. 

Thanks to a partnership with Aviva, £5 million has been raised and additional support has been secured from charitable funders towards the asking price. Now the charity needs to rise the final £1.25 million and is appealing to the public to secure the purchase. 

Stephen Trotter, CEO of Cumbria Wildlife Trust, says: 

“This is a unique and exciting opportunity to create England’s highest nature reserve and, working with farmers and the local community, we urgently need to put more wildlife back into a much-loved and spectacular part of Cumbria.  We’re extremely grateful to Aviva and other donors for the contributions already made towards the purchase of Skiddaw Forest. 

“Now we’re asking the public to give whatever they can to help us secure this site and to bring more nature to this very special place.

“Skiddaw Forest offers a unique opportunity for wildlife and climate resilience at a major scale in the Lake District National Park. We have to reverse the decline of nature in National Parks to help address the impacts of the climate emergency and the wider wildlife crisis.”

Claudine Blamey, Chief Sustainability Officer, Aviva, says: 

“We’re delighted to see Skiddaw in the Lake District chosen as the latest site in our partnership with The Wildlife Trusts, creating England’s highest nature reserve in such an iconic location. Restoring temperate rainforest, peatlands and other habitats on Skiddaw will help the Lake District become more climate ready and provide communities and visitors the opportunity to experience the wonder of British rainforests for years to come.”

Mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington, says: 

“As a lover of the Lake District fells, and a keen advocate for the environment and biodiversity, I can’t think of a better organisation to manage Skiddaw Forest than Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Their tireless work has really helped to put wildlife into the consciousness of the public and put nature back onto the map.”

Writer and television presenter Julia Bradbury, says: 

“This is an amazing opportunity for nature recovery on such a large scale. I’m delighted Cumbria Wildlife Trust can begin restoring precious montane habitats on this iconic Lakeland fell which is still close to my heart in so many ways. Our natural world needs a lot of help and it’s visions like this that can make a tremendous difference. Let’s help keep these wild spaces protected for generations to come.”

If you’d like to help secure the future of Skiddaw Forest for nature, please visit here or call Cumbria Wildlife Trust on 01539 816300.   

ENDS

Cumbria Wildlife Trust has provided the following images showing the boundary line of the proposed nature reserve and a map showing the proposed restoration work on temperate rainforest and peatland:

Since launching its appeal on Thursday, Cumbria Wildlife Trust has already raised half a million pounds of its £1.25 million target.

If you want to help support this project please visit the crowdfunder page HERE.

There’s also a good piece about it in the Guardian here.