Rewild our Commons

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REWILD THE COMMONS

Not so long ago most of England was semi-wild and communally managed

This was our Common Land

When King John signed the Magna Carta 50% of England was Common Land

Life was hard but Common Land provided people and nature space to survive

But then the Enclosures started…

Greed grew and the booming wool trade demanded more and more land to keep the sheep fed

Despite mass resistance and rebellions by those dependent on the Commons, by the time of Shakespeare only 30% of England was still Common Land

When Queen Vic was crowned in 1837 Common Land had shrunk to just 5% of England.

Today just 3% of England is Common Land

Our remaining Commons are some of England’s most nature-depleted places

But just how sick are our Commons?

Just 3% of England is common land

That's 2x the size of the Lake District

Nature on the commons is 3x more depleted than other areas of England

Nature Nature
Nature Nature
Nature Nature

58% of common land is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

7% of all other English land is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Nature Nature

Drainage is the single largest pressure affecting common land

Pressure Pressure
Pressure Pressure
Pressure Pressure

Grazing pressure affects the greatest area of the common land

Yet DEFRA does not hold a record of the number of livestock grazed on the commons

Pressure Pressure

52% of peat bogs on common land are ancient and deep, these store the most carbon.

The National Parks have 36% and England 47%.

Climate Climate

Of the 10 commons that store the most carbon, only 2 are currently sequestering carbon.

Climate Climate
Nature Nature

Only 14% of SSSIs on common land is in a good state for nature

Nature Nature

But there is hope..

Layers

KEY

The NATURE Layer compares common land by ecological condition.

The CARBON Layer compares common land by carbon releases and storage.

For more information on our research findings and map please read the full report.

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