This bank holiday weekend, Britain will be celebrating Her Majesty the Queen’s record-breaking platinum Jubilee. In her 70 years of service, she has been a wonderful ambassador for conservation and charity work, leaving a lasting legacy across the globe, particularly here, at her special Norfolk retreat.
At the NWT, we would like to take a moment on this historic occasion to pay tribute to The Queen’s long-term contribution and patronage to our organisation. As now Britain’s longest reigning monarch, her consistency and steadfast devotion has been a comfort in times of change; a familiar feeling here at the NWT as the queen’s birth coincides with when the Norfolk Naturalist Trust was formed (The Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s origins).
HRH The Queen visits Ranworth
The Queen became our patron on the 23 of June in 1952. Herself and her family have since supported us with annual donations and royal appearances, including attending the opening of NNT’s floating Broad’s wildlife centre at Ranworth in 1976, marking the NNT’s 50
th anniversary.
One of the ways the Norfolk Wildlife Trust will marking these platinum years of service will be by contributing to the Queen’s Green Canopy, a unique tree planting project that invites people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’. In Norfolk we will be planting trees across the Claylands and restoring threatened black poplars to the River Whitewater at Hoe Rough. We are also thrilled to announce the creation of our Woodland Centenary Fund which will be used to restore and expand native woods across the county, and encourage others to join us in doing the same - affording better protection, wider connection and greater care to our glorious native woodlands.
Across the wider Wildlife Trusts and in partnership with the National Lottery Heritage Fund, £5 million has been invested into an initiative of community-led rewilding projects to honour the Jubilee. As part of this Nextdoor Nature scheme, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust will be working with communities found along the River Wensum corridor as it travels into Norwich, a natural legacy which NWT CEO, Eliot Lyne, said, “offers the perfect opportunity to bring people and wildlife together in an urban setting, creating a Wilder Norwich for All.”
Why not get out on our reserves this bank holiday weekend and find out why the royals are so fond of this wild corner of Britain? Some might say it’s fit for a queen!
Header image - Mel Westgate