Pride and Prejudice estate at risk from climate change
COLIN FIRTH’S Mr Darcy caused hearts to flutter when he emerged from a lake at Lyme Park, Cheshire, during the BBC’S Pride and Prejudice.
But the famous estate is under threat from climate change and could be irreparably damaged in just a few decades without preventative action, the National Trust has said.
The number of its sites at risk from a changing climate is expected to more than double by 2060, the charity warned. Among those facing irreparable damage is the country mansion used as the setting for Pemberley in the 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel.
The Grade I listed country house is already under threat from floodwater and suffered a major flood in 2019, prompting the charity to plant trees on nearby moorlands in an attempt to protect the 16th century mansion and its surrounding deer park.
The charity has mapped the climate risks faced by different sites and properties across the UK in order to more effectively protect them.
If climate change is left unchecked, the number at high or medium risk of climate-related hazards could increase from 20,457 today to 47,888 in 2060, out of a total 67,426 sites.
Other threats include invasive pests and diseases, heat damage, and landslides and coastal erosion.
Harry Bowell, National Trust director of land and nature, said: “This map is a game changer in how we face the threat climate change poses to the places we care for.
“While the data draws on a worst
case scenario, the map paints a stark picture of what we have to prepare for. But by acting now, and working with nature, we can adapt to many of these risks. One of the most exciting opportunities here is the map ensures a joinedup approach in which neighbours, landowners, charities and developers can come together to identify risks and collectively intervene to tackle issues and make large-scale change.
“Planting trees, restoring peatlands, slowing the flow of water in flood-prone river valleys and preparing our places and collections for the increased heat and humidity are some of the measures this map can inform.”
Other properties at risk of damage from flooding include Fountains Abbey in Ripon, North Yorks, which the charity hopes to protect in a £2.5million project to slow the flow of the River Skell.
Natural landmarks under threat from coastal erosion include Birling Gap in East Sussex and the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.