Embargoed until 6:00 AM Thursday, October 23, 2025

Note: Stories may appear in print editions of newspapers dated October 23, 2025

• – Stephen Fry, Zack Polanski, Rowan Williams, Chris Packham, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Caroline Lucas are among those that have signed an open letter to the new Archbishop
• – The Church of England is one of the country’s top 10 landowners, but much of its vast estate is in a poor condition for nature

Nearly 50 leading public figures and organisations, including a Nobel Laureate, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, a Party leader, scientists, academics, TV personalities, politicians, theologians, naturalists and activists, have signed an open letter to the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, urging her to make protecting the natural world a defining mission of her tenure.

The letter states:

The Church of England has a unique opportunity to take action to combat the devastating decline of our natural world, not just as a moral voice, but as one of the country’s top 10  largest landowners.

The Church of England’s investment body, the Church Commissioners, owns over 100,000 acres of land across the UK – land that, unfortunately, is largely in poor ecological condition. While some promising steps are being taken, ambition must be far greater and action more urgent. England is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and the nation desperately needs the Church to lead by example to halt this decline.

We urge you to publicly call for a commitment by the Church Commissioners to protect 30% of their land for nature by 2030, in line with the global target adopted by the UK Government and over 190 nations. This target is a historic national undertaking; it will not be achieved without the Church’s support . 

Organised by grassroots campaign group, Wild Card, the signatories include broadcaster, actor and writer Stephen Fry, former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, Green Party leader Zack Polanski, former chair of the IPBES and IPCC Sir Robert T Watson, chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, and conservationist and presenter Chris Packham. Environmental organisations, including Right to Roam and Zero Hour, along with Christian groups such as Green Christian and Christian Climate Action, have also backed the call for the new Archbishop to be a leader in restoring the country’s devastated wildlife.

The letter will be delivered to St. Paul’s Cathedral on Friday 21st October by Chris Packham. Chris will also carry a model ark etched with the names of 105,000 petition signatories who support the call for the Church to commit to rewilding 30% of its land by 2030.

Britain ranks in the bottom 10% of nations globally for biodiversity. The Church of England’s land, which is managed as an investment by the Church Commissioners, is largely used for intensive farming, with only 3% wooded, compared with the UK average of 13%; the lowest tree coverage of the UK’s top ten institutional landowners. Meanwhile, fewer than half of Church of England owned sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) are considered to be in ‘favourable condition’.

The Church has shown global leadership in supporting the UN climate goals by divesting from fossil fuels. The Church’s democratic body The General Synod has also passed a motion calling for action to increase biodiversity across the Church’s various landholdings. However, it lacks concrete and measurable targets for the Church’s single largest landholding – the land owned by the Commissioners. If the Commissioners rewilded 30% of their 108,000 estate, this would restore an area of land 90 times the size of Hyde Park (31,500 acres).

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

The open letter and list of signatories can be found here. 

Further details about the Rewild the Church campaign can be found here.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For more information contact: Heather Carswell: press@wildcard.land 07815 741183

ABOUT WILD CARD

Wild Card is a citizens movement campaigning for the UK’s biggest landowners to urgently rewild their lands in response to the climate and nature emergency. With over 250,000 people supporting their campaigns to date they have already claimed successes in persuading the royal estates and other landowners to begin ambitious nature restoration schemes.

www.wildcard.land