{"id":156892,"date":"2025-11-27T20:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T20:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/156892\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T20:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T20:38:09","slug":"prince-williams-estate-hit-by-vandalism-as-willows-poisoned-in-outrageous-act-of-sabotage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/156892\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince William’s estate hit by vandalism as willows poisoned in ‘outrageous act of sabotage’"},"content":{"rendered":"

An act of environmental vandalism has struck Prince William’s Dartmoor estate, where willow trees planted for ecological restoration have been killed using herbicide. <\/p>\n

The deliberate poisoning has prompted Natural England to launch an investigation into the incident.<\/p>\n

The trees formed part of an initiative to combat peat erosion, capture carbon and mitigate flood risks on the Duchy of Cornwall property.<\/p>\n

Conservation groups have expressed fury at the sabotage, whilst the Duchy has voiced its dismay at the attack on the restoration scheme.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

Prince William’s estate hit by vandalism as willows poisoned in ‘outrageous act of sabotage’<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

The incident has ignited debate about the future of nature recovery efforts in one of Britain’s most iconic national parks.<\/p>\n

The willows were established within a designated site of special scientific interest (SSSI) on common land called the Forest of Dartmoor.<\/p>\n

Protective fencing had been erected around the saplings to shield them from grazing livestock on the surrounding moorland.<\/p>\n

Experts suspect the trees were destroyed using glyphosate, a powerful herbicide.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

The Prince of Wales visiting an area of restored peatland at Dartmoor National Park<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

Natural England has confirmed its investigation is ongoing but declined to provide additional details about the inquiry, as reported by the Guardian.<\/p>\n

The restoration scheme aimed to address widespread peatland degradation across Britain caused by historical drainage and burning practices.<\/p>\n

Willow trees serve a crucial function in anchoring soil through their extensive root networks, preventing erosion of this vital carbon-storing habitat.<\/p>\n

Guy Shrubsole, author of The Lost Rainforests of Britain, condemned the vandalism as “an outrageous act of sabotage, one which points a dagger at the heart of efforts to restore nature in this part of the country.”<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

William is known as the Duke of Cornwall while in Cornwall<\/p>\n

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PA<\/p>\n

He highlighted that Dartmoor’s commons have become “virtually treeless already as a result of centuries of overgrazing by sheep.”<\/p>\n

The deliberate destruction of restoration efforts was “deeply disturbing, as is the failure so far to uncover the culprit,” he added.<\/p>\n

Mr Shrubsole called for unified condemnation, stating: “Such wanton criminal damage must be publicly condemned by all common graziers, farmers and conservationists.<\/p>\n

“Dartmoor stands at a critical juncture: do we choose to breathe life back into this landscape, or let it die?”<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

The Prince of Wales during his visit to Pensford, Bristol, for the inaugural event for sixty of the Duchy of Cornwall’s next generation of farming tenants<\/p>\n

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PA<\/p>\n

Emma Magee, the Duchy of Cornwall’s head of communities and nature, emphasised the estate’s dedication to Dartmoor’s future: “We are committed to working with our partners to secure a better future for Dartmoor, and this recent action does not represent the collective commitment of Dartmoor’s community to achieve this.<\/p>\n

“Woodland expansion alongside peatland restoration is central to a restored landscape across Dartmoor.”<\/p>\n

The South West Peatland Partnership, which financed the planting scheme, denounced the herbicide use as “an attack on those that live, work, enjoy and rely on these landscapes.”<\/p>\n

Their spokesman affirmed that tree planting on Dartmoor has scientific and historical backing for wetland functionality, pledging: “We will replant the vandalised areas as soon as possible.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An act of environmental vandalism has struck Prince William’s Dartmoor estate, where willow trees planted for ecological restoration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69,4289,9855,51066],"class_list":["post-156892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-prince-william","tag-royal","tag-sgg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}