Community News pages 50-53 Funding appeal for meadows A campaign has been launched to help raise funds to create new meadows in Exmoor National Park. It follows a 97 per cent drop in wildflower meadows nationwide since the Second World War. “This appeal is about recognising that wildflower meadows are an absolute powerhouse of our countryside,” said Heather Harley, Conservation Officer for Farming and Land Management. “We need more wildflowers growing on road verges, village greens, churchyards and in school grounds. Our work will help bring together those cultivating wildflower seeds and those who have land, with donations
Sieving the first batch of wildflower seeds
from the public needed to fund vital equipment, habitat surveys and training.”
The pilot stage of the project (pictured above) has seen 30 kilos of seed collected and distributed across five different sites on Exmoor. This has enabled the restoration of more than 11 acres of meadow. It is part of a wider aspiration to create a network of ‘nature corridors and highways’ across the national park, including 1,500 hectares of additional wildflower meadows. Meadows provide important food and homes for a diverse range of species, including many pollinator insects, small mammals, bats and birds, and are a rich carbon store. Donations to the appeal will support the new ‘Exmoor Sowing the Seeds’ project, and you can get involved at the national park centres in Lynmouth, Dunster or Dulverton or online at: exmoor-national-park.gov.uk/caremoor Molton Monthly is a North Devon Biosphere Business Partner helping to promote sustainability.
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