Sir David Attenborough Backs £30m Bid to Save Northumberland’s Rothbury Estate
Sir David Attenborough is backing a major £30 million campaign to buy one of England’s largest estates and protect it for wildlife and future generations.
The Rothbury Estate, a 15-square-mile stretch of woodland, moorland and farmland in Northumberland, is being sold by Lord Max Percy, youngest son of the Duke of Northumberland. After nearly 700 years in the same family, it’s now the biggest piece of land to go on sale in England for more than three decades.
The Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust are leading the effort to buy the land before it’s broken up or sold for uses like commercial forestry. Together, they plan to restore habitats, boost biodiversity and work with local farmers to make the land sustainable for both people and wildlife.
In a video message, Sir David urged the public to help secure the estate before time runs out. “People know and love the Simonside Hills that rise here, they walk the ridges and listen for the calls of the curlew, they watch for red squirrels and admire the views as they scramble among the crags,” he said. “They walk along its remote paths and marvel at the astonishing rock carvings left by our distant ancestors, who once lived here.”
He added, “The Wildlife Trusts have launched an appeal to buy this very special place. They will work with local farmers to care for the area and breathe new life into its precious wildlife habitats. With the communities who live and work at Rothbury, The Wildlife Trusts will create a place where people and nature can thrive side by side. Please help us make this vision a reality.”
So far, around £8 million has been raised through donations ranging from £5 to £5 million. That leaves two-thirds still to find by autumn 2026. Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “This opportunity is extraordinary, but so is the threat. If The Wildlife Trusts fail to acquire the Rothbury Estate in its entirety by autumn 2026, it is likely it will be broken up into separate landholdings, with many planted with non-native conifers for commercial forestry.”
Mike Pratt, CEO of Northumberland Wildlife Trust, called it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to create a 40-mile nature corridor stretching from the Northumberland coast to the Scottish border. “We need to invest in nature if we want it to work,” he said. “It’s not enough to own little bits anymore. We’ve got to really do something at scale if we want to restore nature to 30% of UK land—it’s 7% at the moment.”
The estate is already home to species like red squirrels, curlews, cuckoos, merlins and Atlantic salmon, but conservationists hope to reintroduce animals like beavers, pine martens and even bison to graze the land naturally. Plans also include new footpaths, a visitor centre and opportunities for local jobs in conservation and tourism. The trusts say this project could make the area a “special area for nature recovery” and a model for large-scale rewilding in Britain.
Attenborough, who has supported The Wildlife Trusts for over 60 years, said saving Rothbury would be a gift not just to wildlife, but to the nation itself.
