Should the royals rewild their land?

There is a unique beauty in the moorland of the eastern Highlands. Great, bare rounded hills swell up, the dark ground brightened by the purple of flowering heather. Queen Elizabeth II’s Balmoral Estate in Aberdeenshire is at the heart of this landscape, rising up to the craggy 1,155m Lochnagar.

Walking these hills, you smell the essence of our uplands – peat, heather, a hint of charcoal – carried on a brisk south-westerly breeze, clouds sailing by in a wide sky. But if the Wild Card campaign group – backed by celebrity naturalist Chris Packham – has its way, this landscape will change beyond recognition. Caledonian pine and birch will spread high up the hillsides, montane scrub will overtake much of the heather, and bare peat will be covered in vegetation.

The 20,600-hectare Balmoral Estate is the prime target of those trying to persuade the Royal Family to rewild its land. It’s the largest single estate owned by the family, bought by Queen Victoria in 1852. Her husband Prince Albert’s enthusiasm for grouse shooting and deer stalking at Balmoral started a trend, leading to the creation of many more grouse moors. The result was wildlife devastation, with records from the time showing some large estates had hundreds of birds of prey and other predators killed annually to save grouse for the guns. Moors were burned so fresh heather would feed the game birds. A large deer population for stalking also suppressed tree growth, leading to today’s bare hills.

Some big estates in the Cairngorms are already rewilding. In Glen Feshie since 2006, Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen has caused a stir by drastically reducing deer numbers to boost woodland growth. On Mar Lodge Estate, a near-neighbour of Balmoral, the National Trust for Scotland has an extensive programme of deer culling, tree planting and natural regeneration. Rewilding campaigners believe many more will follow if the