Wildflower Grasslands - Mark Smith
Our aim is to protect and reconnect vital habitats
We are working towards achieving a profitable countryside that is rich with wildflower meadows, alive with butterflies and birds, where dormice travel through an unbroken network of hedgerows and, come dusk, bats fly overhead.
Almost 97% of our wildflower meadows have been lost since the Second World War and although we cannot turn the clock back, we believe that there is a way forward.
Our aim is to protect our remaining wildflower-rich grasslands and identify ways to expand and reconnect these vital habitats throughout the countryside.
Our work is targeted in areas that are known to contain outstanding grasslands, which are nationally important. Through protecting, expanding and reconnecting these areas we can create a region richer in wildlife and at the same time produce top-quality grazing land.
Virtual tour by Mike McFarlane
- Surveying fields to identify our best remaining wildflower grasslands
- Providing advice to landowners on wildflower grassland management
- Assisting with grant applications for agri-environment schemes
- Providing practical help to restore wildflower grasslands
- Helping to fund restoration work where possible.
- Managing a Grazing Brokerage to help get species-rich grassland grazed.
Start: date: 1995
Scheme area: 31,000 hectares
Trust reserves within the scheme
This scheme is helping species including...
This scheme is also...
Providing volunteering opportunities – wildflower surveys.
Natural England, National Trust, Local Authorities, Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre, Mendip Hills AONB, Cotswolds AONB, Duchy of Cornwall.