Avon’s Wildflower Grasslands

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Wildflower Grasslands - Mark Smith

Our aim is to protect and reconnect vital habitats

Avon Wildlife Trust

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

What's happening?

We are:

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

Burledge Hill, Dolebury Warren, Hellenge Hill, Purn Hill, Max Bog, Tucking Mill, Folly Farm

This scheme is helping species including...

Bats (Pipistrelle, greater horseshoe, lesser horseshoe), brown hare, skylark, song thrush, linnet, butterflies (dingy skipper, grizzled skipper) and dormouse

This scheme is also...

Providing volunteering opportunities – wildflower surveys.

Partners

Natural England, National Trust, Local Authorities, Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre, Mendip Hills AONB, Cotswolds AONB, Duchy of Cornwall.

To find out more

Email: livinglandscape@avonwildlifetrust.org.uk | Tel: 0117 917 7270 | Restoring Avon’s Wildflower Grasslands

Living Landscapes

Find out more about our Living Landscape conservation work - targeting areas for landscape-scale nature conservation and transforming places for people and wildlife.