Action outside St Paul's Cathedral in October with Chris Packham - photo credit - Crispin Hughes

Think of land owned by the Church of England and you might picture a small rural churchyard filled with wildflowers. While this pleasant scene certainly exists, it is an anomaly when it comes to Church land. Many people will be surprised to learn that not only is the Church one of the country’s top ten landowners, but that most of its vast estate is in a dire ecological condition.

Woodland coverage on the land managed by the Church Commissioners, the investment body of the Church of England, is only 3%; far less than the UK’s already dismal average of 12%. What's more, over half of the most important habitats for wildlife on their land, known as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), are considered to be in an unfavourable condition.

Why does this matter? Some might argue that the Church should be free to do what it wants with its estate. The reality is that in a society as unequal as the UK, where half of the land is owned by less than 1% of the population, inaction to protect nature by these large landowners affects us all. In the hands of billionaires, royalty, aristocrats and powerful institutions, much of the land in the UK has been exploited and damaged, which has had a devastating effect on wildlife. In fact, in just a generation the country has become so nature-depleted that it ranks in the bottom 10% of nations globally for biodiversity.

Photo credit: Andrea Domeniconi

The Church Commissioners own 105,000 acres, the equivalent to an area the size of two Birminghams, but the amount of land protected for nature is miniscule. The organisation’s head of sustainability for real assets, Paul Jaffe, says that their focus is on sustainable farming practices and that “large-scale rewilding is not appropriate for our highly productive farmland.”

While sustainable farming is preferable to more destructive farming, it will only serve to keep nature on life-support. Fortunately, 61% of their rural land isn’t highly productive and rewilding it would bring a multitude of benefits for nature and farmers, without impacting food supplies.

Taking action to protect nature is essential and achievable for the Church. This is why grassroots campaign group Wild Card is calling on the Commissioners to take action and commit to rewilding 30% of their land by 2030.

Wild Card Co-founder Hazel Draper said:

“The UK is signed up to the United Nations goal of restoring and protecting 30% of land and seas by 2030, but it cannot achieve this without action from the country’s largest landowners. This is where the Church can, and should, be showing leadership.”

The campaign has gained significant support in the last few months, with over 100,000 members of the public backing the call so far, and many senior church members and church groups calling for change.

https://youtu.be/tCwYpgVuLvU?si=vZdF86LRgZkcWKTt

Earlier this month Wild Card teamed up with the Climate Choir Movement and held a 200-strong flash mob at St. Paul’s Cathedral to deliver a musical message highlighting the vital role that the Church must play in restoring nature. Holding aloft images of native British species, Climate Choir members from across the UK gathered inside the iconic London landmark to sing a rousing reworked version of All Things Bright and Beautiful. The new lyrics challenged the Church to demonstrate greater consideration for wildlife.

Dave Mitchell, who sings with the choir and is a leading member of Christian Climate Action, said:

“As Christians we are called by God to care for and nurture all of God's beautiful creation, the wonderful diversity of life we long to see. The Church of England is one of the top ten landowners in the UK, therefore we have a clear God-given responsibility to rewild the vast areas of church land, to help restore nature back to the amazing diversity it was intended for.”

In October, Wild Card held an event outside St. Paul’s Cathedral, in which TV presenter and conservationist, Chris Packham, unveiled a nine-metre long scroll containing a collection of powerful arguments detailing why the Church Commissioners should rewild some of their extensive landholdings. Contributions were gathered from nearly 100 leading public figures, including former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, former Secretary of State Michael Gove, broadcaster, actor and writer Stephen Fry, former chair of the IPBES and IPCC Sir Robert T Watson and former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas. The Theses were delivered to the offices of the Church Commissioners and Lambeth Palace.

Wild Card previously led a campaign calling on the Royal Family to rewild their vast estate, resulting in notable action, with the Crown Estate announcing they will release beavers and start rewilding Balmoral, while the Duchy of Cornwall has begun expanding one of the UK’s rare temperate rainforests. Galvanising public support to press those who steward the land to look after nature can be highly effective and it’s time for the Church to step up.

Find out more about the campaign and how you can get involved here.

Action outside St Paul's Cathedral in October with Chris Packham - photo credit - Rowan Farrell