The Prince of Wales and his team have spent three years turning Sandringham into a fully-organic estate — an undertaking that he details in this week's Country Life magazine.
It’s been a huge and complicated undertaking, but — as land agent Edward Parsons says in the article — enormously exciting at the same time. ‘What outweighs any concerns is the excitement we feel about our ability to improve our environmental delivery,’ he says.
‘We are just starting out, but have had early success. The carbon-cutting toolkit we use suggests that, already, the farm’s CO2 footprint has reduced by more than 6,000 tons a year, even after including our sheep and cattle enterprises. Our understanding of how we measure biodiversity, soil carbon and other key indicators is developing rapidly and we have absolute confidence that we will continue to improve.’
Here, we take a look at some of the facts and figures surrounding the programme:
More than two million trees planted.
45 new woodlands created.
A flock of 3,000 sheep and a herd of 500 cattle are being established.
The Sandringham Estate, Norfolk. Photo by Simon buck for Country Life.
25 miles of new hedges planted (including four miles in 2008 alone).
124 miles of field margins established.
The Sandringham Estate, Norfolk. Photo by Simon buck for Country Life.
494 acres of uncultivated land maintained as a food source for wildlife.
Dersingham Bog, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, is now managed by Natural England.
10 wetlands created.
395 acres of wild-bird cover established.
The Sandringham Estate, Norfolk. Photo by Simon buck for Country Life.
All food waste, glass, metal, plastic, cardboard and paper is recycled.
The estate’s sawmill processes felled timber into fencing and firewood, as well as into wood chippings for biomass boilers. The saw is able to cut logs of 36in in diameter and up to nearly 20ft in length.
The Prince of Wales on turning Sandringham organic: ‘Ecosystems will flourish as Nature intended and we’ll always put back more than we take from the land’
Over the past three years, HRH The Prince of Wales and his team have converted Sandringham into a fully organic
Prince George is ‘obsessed’ with farming, says Prince William, as he opens up about his passion
The Duke of Cambridge has a strong interest in all things agriculture and is practising his skills at Sandringham ahead
HRH The Prince of Wales: ‘We may be the last generation fortunate enough to experience the wonderful people, skills and activities of our countryside’
HRH The Prince of Wales has guest edited the November 14 edition of Country Life. In his leader article, he
