Back then it would have been awash with colourful flower-rich meadows and grasslands that were an intrinsic part of our agriculture and people’s daily lives.
The scale of the decline is breath-taking
Fast forward to today and over 97% of wildflower meadows have been lost
since the 1930s, that’s a startling 7.5 million acres (3 million
hectares). Species-rich grassland now only covers a mere 1% of the UK’s
land area.
And what remains is mostly scattered fragments of just a few acres and vulnerable to disappearing under the plough. The seriousness and causes of the decline has been outlined in a report by the charity Plantlife.
According to the charity’s botanical specialist, Dr Trevor Dines, all that remain are just 26,000 acres (10,500 hectares) of lowland wildflower meadow and 2,223 acres (900 hectares) of upland hay meadow in the UK.
“The scale of the decline is breath-taking,” he says.
This loss of meadows and species-rich grasslands is without parallel in the history of nature conservation in the UK according to Save Our Magnificent Meadows, a partnership project led by the charity Plantlife to promote and protect our vanishing meadows.
They also say that in the UK, more priority species for conservation are associated with grasslands than with any other habitat type.
So to celebrate these now very rare and special spaces and to raise awareness of their striking decline, the first ever National Meadows Day is being held on Saturday 4 July.
And what remains is mostly scattered fragments of just a few acres and vulnerable to disappearing under the plough. The seriousness and causes of the decline has been outlined in a report by the charity Plantlife.
According to the charity’s botanical specialist, Dr Trevor Dines, all that remain are just 26,000 acres (10,500 hectares) of lowland wildflower meadow and 2,223 acres (900 hectares) of upland hay meadow in the UK.
“The scale of the decline is breath-taking,” he says.
This loss of meadows and species-rich grasslands is without parallel in the history of nature conservation in the UK according to Save Our Magnificent Meadows, a partnership project led by the charity Plantlife to promote and protect our vanishing meadows.
They also say that in the UK, more priority species for conservation are associated with grasslands than with any other habitat type.
So to celebrate these now very rare and special spaces and to raise awareness of their striking decline, the first ever National Meadows Day is being held on Saturday 4 July.
