The Duchy manages over 4,000 acres of woodland, including 2,200 acres in Cornwall and 1,480 acres in Herefordshire. Timber harvested from the woodlands has been used on the wider Duchy estate, from beams at the regenerated Harewood End estate in Herefordshire to logs at the Duchy Holiday Cottages.

One of our most unique pieces of woodland is Wistman’s Wood, an ancient oak woodland which covers over seven acres of the West Dart Valley on Dartmoor, Devon. It is a National Nature Reserve (NNR), a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in recognition of its significance for nature conservation.

The Duchy has revealed plans to regenerate and expand the woodland, doubling its size by 2040..

The Duchy of Cornwall's marine estate includes foreshore around much of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The estate also includes a number of estuaries including the Dart, Salcombe and Kingsbridge, Avon, Tamar, Looe, Helford and Camel, where rivers meet the sea.

Our foreshore and fundus (riverbed) are amongst the most ecologically diverse parts of the Duchy, with much of it heavily designated and protected. The Duchy is working closely with a wide range of partners on innovative solutions to enhance these locations, such as the installation of Living Seawalls and supporting the Isles of Scilly Recovery Strategy.

The Duchy’s single largest contiguous area of ownership is on Dartmoor, with over 65,000 acres. Of this, around 24,000 acres are ‘deep peat’ (in excess of 40 cm depth) and a large amount of the remaining areas are shallow peat.

Peatland provides a vast store of locked-up carbon, but when degraded and damaged, that carbon is lost as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

At least 75% of peat in the UK is damaged, degraded and eroding.

The Duchy is delighted to be part of the South West Peatland Partnership, a collaboration between local and regional government agencies, non-governmental organisations, landowners and farmers in the South West of England.

The partnership aims to actively restore, celebrate and positively shape the future of the UK’s South West peatlands for people, wildlife and the planet. Healthy peatlands are vital for wildlife habitat, plant diversity, archaeological preservation and keeping carbon in the ground.

Peatland restoration forms a major part of the Duchy’s journey to net zero. The Duchy is providing significant funding towards the South West Peatland Partnership, in relation to its work on Dartmoor. Since 2008, over 3,000 acres of heavily degraded peat has been restored on Dartmoor so far.