Prince Charles has today been appointed the Patron of the Foundation for Common Land, a charity whose aim is to conserve and enhance common land.
The charity's work includes conserving cultural landscapes, natural environment and agricultural systems delivered by commoners through sustainable grazing and by the owners of common land.
On today's appointment, the Foundation for Common Land said it is "delighted and honoured".
Prince Charles is well known for his interest in the countryside and farming issues. He founded the Prince’s Countryside Fund, designed to improve the prospects of family farm businesses, in 2010.
Julia Aglionby, Executive Director (England) said that since the charity's formation in 2012, the Prince of Wales has "supported and encouraged" its work in two areas.
The first is the Hill Farm Training Courses for the Conservation Professionals and the second is a cross organisation partnership to improve the delivery of multiple outcomes on upland commons.
In the foreword to the charity's publication, ‘Better Outcomes on Upland Commons’, Prince Charles wrote: "There is something tirelessly special about the uplands and also something special about the people and organisations that work tirelessly to manage the uplands."
'Disproportionately important'
Once covering over 50% of Britain, commons are now restricted to 3% of England, 5% of Scotland and 8% Wales.
Yet, according to the charity, they are "disproportionately important" in the public benefits they provide.
For instance, common land is 7 times more likely to be designated for nature conservation than non common land and 39% of all Open Access land in England is common land contributing to the well being of millions of visitors to the countryside.
Common land is currently in the spotlight with the forthcoming unveiling of the Lake District World Heritage Site by Prince Charles.
UNESCO recognised that at the heart of the Lake District's Outstanding Universal Value is the "unique cultural heritage" created and inspired by the pastoral grazing of commons and associated hill farms by "strongly independent farmers".
Chris Short, Chairman of the Foundation for Common Land said: "We are delighted to welcome HRH as our Patron formalising his long standing recognition of the importance of commons and commoners to our most valued and iconic places."
