The month of June has been an absolute joy! I have had the privilege of surveying twelve incredible wildflower meadows for the Devon Wildlife Trust, all of them part of the Avon Valley project. Each meadow is unique, sustaining a huge biodiversity of plants and wildlife and all have been created by passionate people, enormously generous with both their time and enthusiasm.
Since the 1930s wildflower meadows in the UK have declined by 97%. That’s approximately 7.5 million acres! Imagine how beautiful and full of wildlife the British landscape would be if we were able to reinstate even just a fraction of that.
Not only are wildflower meadows incredibly beautiful, they also provide essential habitat and food sources for a huge diversity of plant and animal species. They are crucial for sustaining pollinator populations and provide protection for rare and endangered native plant species. Wildflower meadows also provide ecoservices to us as they contribute to soil fertility, water filtration, flood preservation and carbon sequestration.
The time I spent with the wonderful Avon Valley meadow makers, exploring and learning about their land, was incredibly special and will certainly stay with me for a long while.
