Attenborough backs buying vast moorland estate for nature

SIR David Attenborough is championing a bid by conservationists to raise £30 million to secure a vast upland estate in Northumberland for nature and the nation.

- EMILY BEAMENT [e-mail]

Part of the vast upland Rothbury Estate in Northumberland which is on the market for £30 million

(Duncan Hutt)

The Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust are attempting to complete the purchase of the Rothbury Estate, a 15-square-mile tract of former grouse moor, woodland, farmland, streams and rivers, with plans to boost wildlife, restore bogs and champion nature-friendly farming.

The historic estate is the largest area of land to be put on sale in England in decades, and sits in the heart of what nature experts say could be a 40-mile “wild” corridor of protected landscapes, nature reserves and wildlife-focused estates stretching from the coast to Kielder and the Scottish border.