CLARENCE HOUSE LONDON From: The Private Secretary to TRl-l The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall Private and Con?dential 23rd May, 2011 it My I am writing on behalf of The Duke of Rothesay to thank you very much indeed for your letter of 5th May, enclosing a copy of The Fen Management Handbook. I am most grate?il to you for taking the time to send a copy of the Handbook, and I know that His Royal Highness looks forward to having the opportunity to read this comprehensive publication in more detail in due course. This comes with The Duke of Rothesay?s renewed thanks and kindest good wishes, Mark Leishman Andrew McBride, Esq. SNH 2 51 DEC 2013 8M1 CLARENCE HOUSE LONDON 18A l-?rom Private Secretary to TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL 22nd December, 2013 pm 16? up?, Thank you very much, indeed, for having spared the time to speak to me on Wednesday 18th December. As we discussed, you are invited to attend an of?ce session with His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay at Birkhall on 15th January 2014, together with representatives from the Red Squirrel Survival 'l?rust, Forestry Commission Scotland and the British Wildlife Centre. His Royal Highness is concerned about the threat of the spread of squirrel pox along the border with Scotland and England, and, he is also very keen to expand the pockets of red squirrels that are thriving around the country, in places such as Anglescy in Wales. His Royal Highness should, therefore, like to propose the introduction of red squirrels onto the Isle of Mull and the main purpose of the meeting is to discuss the practicalities of this proposal as well as to exchange views about existing biosecurity safeguards. The meeting has been scheduled to begin at 11.15 am on 15th January 2014 and I will be in touch nearer the time to discuss the necessary practicalities. Please do not hesitate to contact me should have you any questions whatsoever. Otherwise, it just remains for me to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. r.f. Michael Whitehead Mr. Ian Jardine 2 '2 DEC 2013 SM CLARENCE HOUSE i From. The Equerry to TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall Private and Con?dential 19th December, 2013 jioirJ?k?v? I am glad to write and con?rm that The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay will be delighted to receive you at Birkhall from 1115 1215 on Wednesday 15th January, 2014. Mark Leishman (Private Secretary) will be in attendance. Your details have been passed to the Birkhall Police Post and will be checked on arrival, so please could I ask you to bring some form of photographic identi?cati on with you ideally a passport or a photographic driving licence. 1 wouli be grateful if you could contact ?on e?mail her to let her know whether this arrangement is suitable for you and, for reasons of security, the make and model and registration number of your vehicle. Directions to Birkhall and an admittance card are enclosed. Please do not hesitate to call if 1 can be of any further help. Major David Bevan WG Ian ardine Esq. CLARENCE HOUSE LONDON 1BA DIRECTIONS FROM ABERDEEN AIRPORT TO BIRKHALL BALLATER, ABERDEENSHIRE, AB35 SST Leaving airport, turn left at traf?c lights. Follow road to roundabout and take le?. Turn immediately right off dual carriageway. Sign will read ?Forrit Brae?. Continue up hill to crossroads and turn left. Continue down hill, passing cemetery on left, then turn right. At roundabout, turn right on dual carriageway (A944). At next roundabout, keep to left lane, following B9119 for Banchory. At Garlogie, turn le? on B977 again following Banchory signs. Continue on B977, gm turn left for Banchory, road is now A980. After approx. 3 miles, turn left for Kincardine O?Neill. At the T-junction, turn left, follow down to junction and turn right on A93 for Braemar. Continue on A93 through Aboyne/Dinnet to Ballater. At junction, turn left over river, then right onto South Deeside. Following road back over the Bridge of Muick up long straight. There is red post box on the le? hand side, take the road on the right of the post box Follow the road through trees (approx. 0.7 of mile.) passing White gates (on your left) marked No Entry*, passing high wooden fence on the left hand side which then changes to an iron fence. Cross over green iron bridge and you will see a green sentry box on your left. The police will help you from If the gate is open at the No Entry Sign and policeman 1s present, take this road which will lead you to the from door of BIRKHALL 5i to) l? r- WW amt?) 1c, HA 18th April, 2009 tin/km. You probably won?t know, but I recently launched The Red Squirrel Survival Trust (R.S.S.T.) when I was in Cumbria and, Just to bore you to distraction, I attach the speech I made on that occasron. In order to be able to save the Red Squirrels and ensure their future in this country, it is absolutely crucial in eliminate the Greys which, as you know, are an alien species to the UK. and threaten the very existence of the Reds. As you are also no doubt aware, the Greys are doingmand increasmg damage to hardwoods all over the country and threaten to compromise all our efforts to restore native woodlands, let alone to create community forests etc. One of the key aims of the R.S.S.T., of which I am Patron, is to work with as many landowners, local authorities, agencies, community groups and members of the public as possible in order to coordinate the necessary measures required to drive out the Greys. Interestingly, the R.S.S.T. is ?nding a great deal of public support for these control measures, particularly when people can grime results in terms of the return of the Reds. Anglesey, for instance, is a case in point where great stndes have been made to eliminate the Greys and the Reds are coming back. I need hardly say that the support of Scottish Natural Heritage for this campaign is absolutely cruelal and I would be so very grateful if I could rely on active and enthusiastic particrpation - before it is too late (the same applies to bees, of course, and I may have to seek your help there too!). I do pray you can help me with this task as it would make g?the difference not only to the survival of an iconic native species, but also to the success of all our efforts to restore and enhance our native hardwoods. Perhaps you would be prepared to see the key people from the R.S.S.T. who could brief you and your people properly on what they are trying to do i and what is required? A speech by HRH The Prince of Wales to launch the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, Levens Hall, Cumbria 3rd April 2009 Ladies and gentlemen, may I just begin by thanking Suzy and Hal Bagot more than I can possibly say for agreeing to host this crucially important gathering here. Levens Hall is a very special place indeed I can?t tell you how much I love it here. As an ardent topiarist, it is a pleasure to come back and gaze in admiration at these amazing creations. You might like to know that I have a red squirrel tepiary at Highgrove. Today, I hope, will be the beginning of the co-ordinated ?ght-back on behalf of our precious and very British red squirrel, in the face of the relentless march across the country of the pernicious greys. If I may, I just want to give you a little background to the Red Squirrel Survival Trust which we are launching today and of which I am delighted to be the Patron. For many years I have been deeply concerned about the plight of this utterly charming creature and, over the last 12months, I have been working with a number of the extraordinary individuals and organizations across the country who have been in the forefront of the battle to preserve the reds and I am so pleased to see many of them here today, particularly Miles Barne, Craig Shuttleworth, and Carrie Nicholson. Last June I hosted a dinner at Clarence House to see if I could start the ball rolling for the Red Squirrel Survival Trust and the ball seems to have ended up here! During this whole exercise, it became clear that these groups could be so much more effective and powerful if somehow they could be brought together under one umbrella there is, I have always found, strength in numbers! And so the Red Squirrel Survival Trust was born and that is what we are here to celebrate today with this seminar. Unlike many people in this country I am very lucky to see red squirrels regularly in Scotland at Birkhall, where I have been indulging them with hazelnuts, and they are becoming remarkably tame. Sometimes when I am sitting at my desk, I hear the pitter patter of tiny feet and they run all the way round my of?ce. They really are very special creatures. But of course one of . the problems is that the reds are now so marginalized that very few people in this country have actually ever seen one. Many do not even realize that they are native to this country and that the greys are a totally alien species having been imported here just over one hundred years ago. I am old enough now to remember while a child seeing red squirrels regularly on the Sandringham Estate in the 19603 and then they completely disappeared. Now, sadly, It is almost impossible to see them anywhere in the vast majority of England and Wales (with some notable exceptions, such as Anglesey and the Isle of Wight and of course good old Cumbria); while the remaining red population in Northern England and Scotland is under continued attack. That is why one of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust's key tasks will be working tirelessly to communicate to the largest possible audience that the greys are, quite literally, driving the native reds to the verge of extinction, not only because they are larger and more aggressive, but because they spread the appalling squirrel pox, to which they are immune but from which the more vulnerable reds suffer dreadfully. At the same time and worst of all, the greys, which are far more populous than the reds, are destroying huge amounts of woodlands, particularly beech trees. Any attempts to plant much neede native Species, community woodlands for instance are being seriously compromised by disastrous damage caused by greys as I know all too well down in Gloucestershire where we have a real battle to protect the trees I have lovingly planted over the past 29 years. But the news is by no means all bad. Thanks to the astonishing work of a number of people in this room the reds are, in some places, holding their own and in Anglesey, owing to some remarkable work by Dr Shuttleworth and others, they have been successfully re?introduced. But the terrifying reality is that within a decade, if we cannot work together to bring in the necessary funding for the task which needs to be done, the red squirrel could be extinct right across the United Kingdom. New I, for one, am simply not prepared to let that happen and I hope that under the new banner of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust everyone who is ?ghting for the red and is determined to preserve it, will come together in order to reverse its decline. And if I may just state the blindingly obvious, grey squirrels don?t respect county borders or local authority areas. It is only by developing co-ordinated and integrated campaigns to eliminate the greys, that we will ensure a future for the reds. Personally, I cannot think of a better mascot for our country than the red squirrel - perhaps that just might make people realize what it is that they are about to and unless we get our act together and fast we are about to lose an awful lot of other Species too. Of course, the plight of the red squirrel is of a general lack of awareness of the importance of preserving our natural habitat. There is, so often, a total lack of understanding of how Nature works and how our survival depends on its complexity and its balance. I was in South America recently and I visited the Galapagos Islands, perhaps the most fragile ecosystem in the world. There I saw, ?rst hand, the dangers facing wildlife from alien predators and increasingly kinds of invasive species and the tremendous efforts made by scientists and environmentalists to preserve its future. If only we could make half that effort to preserve our own natural So, why is this important? Because Nature is vital for our health and wellbeing. Dr Eric Chivian, the Nobel Peace Prize winner from Harvard Medical School and one of the leading scientists looking at biodiversity, whom I met some years ago, recently completed a paper at my request, on the effects of biodiversity and health. The paper showed, quite conclusively, that there is a direct relationship between the health of humans and the levels of biodiversity in the world; whether it is the destruction of the world?s rainforests, which provide the very rain on which global agricuiture depends, or the loss of natural organisms that have a direct effect on the spread of infectious diseases which we are increasingly seeing all around the world. As many of you will know, one of the species that we cannot live without is the British honey bee and other bees generally. A population which faces a threat as great as the red squirrel. One third of our hives did not survive last Winter and Spring largely due to the varroa mite. And colony collapse disorder is another problem. So severe has the problem become that the British Government has predicted that if nothing is done to arrest the decline, the honey bee could be extinct in the United Kingdom within ten years. And without honey bees, British agriculture, and not only british agriculture, will be decimated. To make matters worse, the crisis of the honey bee is spreading across the globe. That is why I have been doing what I can to encourage the Wellcome Trust, to whom I wrote, to conduct urgent research into why it is happening so that we can do something about it and fast. I have said this before but I will say it again, it is as if we have been undertaking a gigantic experiment with Nature. Pushing harder and harder against its natural envelope, trying to ?nd its limits. The trouble with this particular experiment is that unless we stop and review all this, then it will be impossible to undo the damage. We will have tested Nature to destruction and destroyed Nature?s capital on which we all depend: Recently I was interviewed by ITN in the Amazon and asked why all this was important when there was so much ?nancial hardship in the world. I replied that you cannot have capitalism without capital. By that I meant the world?s natural capital which supports all our activities. Nature provides in the jargon ecosystem services, such as the way the Rainforests produce water for the world?s crops to grow, or the way the Arctic re?ects the sun?s rays to regulate the planet?s temperature. If we destroy these, which we are in the process of doing by cutting down the rainforests or letting the arctic ice melt further by releasing ever more greenhouse gases and the worst scenario of all ,the melting of the tundra in Siberia which will release methane gas and speedup global warming then our economy will, quite simply, be unable to function. Likewise, if we persist in pillaging the ocean, reducing most fish stocks by up to 90 per cent and facing the imminent collapse of such stocks, let alone the intricate balance of bio?diversity and coo?system services the sea, then we will have cut our own throats. We can?t continue without Nature?s support. We cannot go on living off capital and not income this is the essence of sustainability. To me, the plight of the red squirrel and yes - the honey bee too - is yet another example of? man's short?sightedness in an increasingly throwaway society. And, as stewards of this Earth, we should all feel deeply ashamed of it. The ?ler of both Species is a crucial test of just how serious we are about sustainability. We talk about sustainability but most of the time it is business as usual with tiny green knobs on. Do we have to hit a brick wall before we wake up? The red squirrel is an iconic mammal one of the most delightful in this country it is my most fervent wish that the Red Squirrel Survival Trust will help us all to recognize in time what must be done to save it. There are many people in this room who, I know, are determined to make a difference, whether through ?nancial support or hands-on involvement, and I would like to offer you all my heartfelt thanks. You have done such fantastic work already and have set a wonderful example. You are engaged on a crucial mission and your efforts will make all the difference. Needless to say I am right behind you. ,x A. tan Jardme L. 75' cmerExecurwe - . 7 . . Great Glen House . . Road Natural Hentage mm; Dualchas Nadatr na h~Alba ?Wm 01463 725000 All fnatweforallofScottand To His Royal Highness the our rel IJIB380916 Duke of Rothesay Clarence House London May 2009 on Thank you very much for your letter of 18 Apnl and the copy of your speech at the launch of the Red Survival Trust Hopefully you have seen something of the actions being taken by SNH and others to protect Scotland?s red squzrrels and to prevent the spread of pox As you paint out the scale of the issue is immense and at Will require many Interests to work a concerted way to achieve results I would be very happy to meet representatives of RSST and can assure you of our active support In measures to protect the red Perhaps your o?rce could pass my contact details on to the appropnate person to I am also very sympathetic on the issue of bees. where I have a strong personal interest I belteve my garden IS home to the most northerly known colony of red mason bees - Important pollinators of fruit trees in southern England I understand that the Scottish Government has recently produced a statement, but armed largely at bee keepers SNH has done some work to pubhcme the economic as well as enmronmental Importance of our native bees arl?d to encourage their conservation, so we would be very happy to engage others on that Issue too yous Educ? ?657 Ian Jardln AB 4.3x 09? cc Chaman Andrew Thin Chief Executrva Ian Jardme 3 . Cathrarche Ard Or?gear o. a (3, Alt ol nature to: all at Scottand [X??sron yaom? Nader arr fad armor! Alba arr fed Mad?. hum $00 1 recycled paper Dunn emperor was. am amateurs