Flourishing floodplain meadows

About the event

Explore the rare and extraordinary habitat of floodplain meadows with CRT head of conservation and floodplain meadow expert Helena Darragh.

Only 1% of our floodplain meadows remain in England and Wales, which originally covered 3000ha. This talk will discuss why floodplain meadows are so important to our countryside and what is being done to help restore them, with examples from our CRT farms.

Managed correctly, floodplain meadows offer a long-term solution to carbon storage and sequestration, more so than planting woodlands. From supporting pollinating insects and providing grazing animals with key nutrients and minerals, to storing floodwater there are so many benefits to floodplain meadows.

Helena will take us through these and explain how we are working with our farmer cluster (Mid Stour farmers) and neighbouring farmer clusters to restore more floodplain meadows in the River Stour catchment in Dorset. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions after the main presentation.

Floodplain meadow restoration taking place at Bere Marsh Farm in Mill Mead field. Volunteers and CRT staff hand broadcast native wildflowers and floodplain grasses into the existing sward in August 2024. Read more on this in our meadow blog.

The floodplain meadow at Bere Marsh Farm in October 2023. Lots of birdlife present, including Kestrel, Pied Wagtail, Little Egret and Black-headed Gulls. We look forward to comparing the wildlife here in years to come following the meadow restoration.

About your speaker

Helena Darragh is the Floodplain Meadows Partnership Ambassador for Dorset, having completed her three-year training programme in 2023 to understand survey and research methods used to assess management of existing floodplain meadows and help in their restoration. As part of this role, Helena offers advice to meadow owners and managers in Dorset as well as across our CRT properties.

The details

Booking is essential to receive the link

The talk is aimed at adults but all ages are welcome

Free event - donations are welcomed to support the work of the Countryside Regeneration Trust (please note donations are not refundable in the event of cancellation)

This event will be hosted on Teams and you will be sent the link to join in your confirmation email

A recording of the talk will only be made available to those who have registered in advance

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Wildflower meadow blog

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