Our pollinators are in crisis but there's a simple yet powerful act that can make a tremendous difference: restoring native wildflowers to the countryside. We invite you to support our work to reflower our farms and restore wildflower meadows for future generations to enjoy. 

Wildflower meadows are vibrant, beautiful ecosystems that are home to countless species of wild plants, butterflies, beetles and other buglife that in turn provide vital food for wild birds and small mammals. They also contribute to other vital ecosystem services such as clean air, healthy rivers and food production.

Wildflower meadows were once commonplace in our countryside but have become vanishingly rare over the past 70 years as land has been drained, ploughed and reseeded for more intensive food production. Building and the expansion of cities, towns and villages have also taken their toll.

 

How the CRT intends to play its part

The CRT has mostly grassland farms and while there are a scattering of wildflower meadows among them, many of our fields are rather poor in wild flowers. With the global and national imperatives for nature recovery (protecting and restoring 30% of land by 2030 for nature) we are identifying fields on our farms where we can restore wildflower meadows and put together plans to “reflower” them. To do this we will need to obtain seed or seed-rich green hay from other wildflower meadows, ideally in the locality. The seed or hay will be spread on prepared ground in the autumn, and the journey towards ‘reflowering’ will begin. The techniques are tried and tested – they work, but we first need the seed.

The need for funding

It costs £50 to re-seed a 5x5m section of our meadows with wildflowers, which will flourish for future generations, look beautiful and provide food and habitat for many other wild species.

Wildlife blog: Seeds to sow a meadow