HRH The Prince of Wales has welcomed the Chairman and the Chief Executive of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) to the Sandringham Estate for the planting of an avenue of trees commemorating The Duke of Edinburgh’s half-century of involvement with the Trust.
60 Common Lime trees Tilia europaea Pallida – a gift from the GWCT’s Trustees and Vice-Presidents – will form a new avenue, creating a wonderful landscape feature and wildlife habitat on The Queen’s Norfolk estate which was much loved by The Duke.
The Prince of Wales joined GWCT Chairman Sir Jim Paice DL and Chief Executive Teresa Dent CBE in planting the first of the wildlife-friendly Lime trees on the Estate.
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is the UK’s leading charity conducting conservation science to enhance the British countryside for public benefit. HRH The Duke of Edinburgh had a 57-year association with the Trust, first as President (1965-1973), then as Patron (1973 until his death in 2021).
Sir Jim Paice, GWCT Chairman said:
“GWCT trustees and vice-presidents chose to gift a new avenue of trees at Sandringham as a fitting tribute to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s remarkable contribution to the Trust and to conservation as a whole.
“The conservation movement and the GWCT in particular may have lost an extraordinary champion, but we are delighted to help assure his legacy at Sandringham today.”
Throughout his 57-year involvement with the GWCT, The Duke of Edinburgh took an active interest in the Trust’s conservation science. He made several visits to the GWCT’s demonstration farms, both the Allerton Project at Loddington in Leicestershire, and Auchnerran in Aberdeenshire, as well as their Hampshire headquarters.
Source and photo credits: Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
