Protecting our natural environment
At The King’s Foundation we teach the principles of nature that underpin food, farming and our own wellbeing, using a real-world and hands-on approach. Learn about our work to protect the planet and educate the next generation to live sustainably.
We are a part of nature, not apart from her
We advocate for living harmoniously with the natural world, through building communities around the world with nature at their centre, and ensuring everyone has access to green spaces and environmental education.
175 communities
Over 2,000 acres
2 million
Our work in the natural environment
Farming and food
We manage over 800 acres of farmland across our sites, including an extensive working education farm at Dumfries House. We specialise in rare breeds and have worked with the Rare Breeds Trust to host a variety of breeds at our sites including Vaynol cattle, British Landrace pigs, Shetland geese and Scots Grey chickens.
We provide education opportunities that help school pupils, school leavers and adult learners develop an understanding of food production systems and sustainable practices in farming.
Trees and forestry
We are champions of protecting trees and forestry worldwide. Each year, we undertake tree planting schemes at our UK sites, with more than 400 trees being planted at Dumfries House in the first half of 2026.
We collaborate on international projects that protect the world’s forests, including our work with the Government of Guyana to protect the Guyanese rainforests.
Sustainable urbanisation
We deliver high-quality placemaking projects across the globe, all with community, sustainability and long-term stewardship in mind – putting into practice our design principles which are responsive to local traditions, cultures and climates.
Our UK sites are managed in line with these principles.
Horticulture and gardens
We manage over 2,000 acres of land at our sites across the UK in line with sustainable practices. We open our gardens to the public at Highgrove, Dumfries House and the Castle of Mey, encouraging visitors to spend time in nature.
We teach horticulture skills at our hands-on education garden at Dumfries House. We protect and manage Highgrove, the first well-known organic garden in the UK.
Wellbeing through nature
We provide courses and therapies to support NHS treatment and facilitate access to green spaces.
Our health and wellbeing work is primarily undertaken at our purpose-built Health and Wellbeing Centre located on the Dumfries House estate. The Centre offers programmes for living with pain, diabetes and weight management, fertility wellbeing, menopause and mindfulness, facilitating access to nature through each programme.
Our stories
Our Food for the Future programme gives young people the skills, knowledge and experiences of food production systems to enable them to reduce food waste.
The programme, delivered in partnership with the Jamie Oliver Group and Jimmy Doherty, takes place at Dumfries House. Pupils have a series of industry site visits and masterclasses before coming up with their own innovative solution to a food waste issue. A number of these projects have gone on to impact their school’s longer-term approach to food waste. The project has been commended in the Scottish Parliament and identified as best practice by the Education Scotland curriculum innovation team.
Get involved
