Category: Blog posts

Hope for the Ghost Woods

21 May 2025

Our hope for the ghost woods lies in their restoration. In these dark plantation forests, the spirit of the ancient woods still remains, desperate to make a comeback and reawaken the flowers, trees and fungi which can best sustain our native wildlife. You can read more about how they came into being in our blog…
Which Woodland: A Clear Choice for Biodiversity

15 May 2025

There’s no denying that England needs timber, and therefore timber plantations. But how do these plantations stack up for biodiversity when compared to ancient woodlands?
The Way the Woods Were Lost

8 May 2025

Across England, thousands of acres of silent plantations are haunted by ghosts. Once quintessentially English woodland, alive with butterflies and bluebells, wood anemones and wild garlic, these woodlands have become ghost woods, suffocating beneath the dark, evergreen canopy of conifer tree farms.
Rewilding Species of the Month: Bluebells

2 May 2025

One of the best things to do at this time of year is to head down paths that run alongside fields of bluebells and take in their beautiful scent. For those of us lucky enough to be on the nicer side of social media, springtime just wouldn’t be the same without images of violet-blue carpeted…
The Church Commissioners and Tenant Farmers

29 April 2025

How can large landowners like the Church Commissioners rewild their tenanted land? We’re asking the Church Commissioners to commit to rewilding 30% of their land by 2030 but we are also aware that much of this land is leased out to tenant farmers. With a just transition forming part of Wild Card’s values statement, we…
Ban Driven Grouse Shooting

By Elena Grice

3 April 2025

Our friends over at Wild Justice have a petition to ban driven grouse shooting that is currently about 16,000 signatures off the required 100,000 to be debated in public. With moorland burning leading to carbon emissions, out-of-control wildfires, damage that leads to flooding, as well as air pollution and raptor persecution, driven grouse shooting needs…
Rewilding Species of the Month: The Nightingale

31 March 2025

They might not be much to look at, in fact anyone new to birdwatching might categorise one as an LBJ (little brown job), but the nightingale has inspired poets and lovers alike to win their place as one of the UK’s best loved birds. They are also one of the most endangered. In fact, the…
What land does the Church of England own?

25 March 2025

We don’t always think of the Church as a landlord, do we?! The Church of England as a whole owns 200,000 acres of land – some of which includes the things you would expect, like church buildings and graveyards. Less obviously, 105,000 acres of this land is actually owned and managed by the Church Commissioners,…
Another warm invite to the Church Commissioners

17 March 2025

On March 1st, 200 members of the Climate Choir Movement put on a stunning show in St Paul’s Cathedral, in support of the Rewild the Church campaign. The rousing choir called on the Church Commissioners to protect nature by rewilding 30% of their 105,000 acre investment estate by 2030. Amongst other media, the Church Times…
Climate Choir Flash Mob Sings Out for our Rewild the Church Campaign

10 March 2025

On Saturday, Wild Card joined forces with the Climate Choir Movement to call on the Church Commissioners, the investment body of the Church of England, to commit to rewilding 30% of their 105,000 acre estate by 2030 – as part of our Rewild the Church campaign