Herefordshire Meadows are very excited to announce that we will be partnering with Buglife on an ambitious, cross county project that seeks to restore 57 hectares of lowland heath and species-rich grassland across Shropshire and North Herefordshire in 2023.
This project is added to the cohort of B-Lines projects running up and down the country, from Perthshire in Scotland down to Cornwall in South England. Since the 1930s over 97% of all flower-rich grasslands has been lost and has left our pollinators vulnerable and in serious decline; B-Lines are an imaginative and beautiful solution to this loss. B-Lines are 3km wide ‘insect pathways’ running through our countryside and towns and connecting up wildflower-rich habitats across the UK. These lines are to be filled with wildflowers to enable pollinators and other wildlife to move through our landscape to feed, nest and hibernate.
Two roles will be created for this project, a Project Officer and Intern. They will oversee delivery of the habitat works and put together a wide-reaching events programme engaging with schools, community groups, other local charities, youth clubs and reach out to people in-need through Telford and Wrekin Council’s green-prescribing service. The project will also have a strong focus on landowner engagement and will be working with farmer cluster groups to promote and support nature-friendly farming, as well as hosting events to showcase the work delivered with landowners and inspire further action.
A series of webinars, in-person events and volunteering will teach people about pollinators, wildlife gardening, practical habitat restoration and species monitoring inspiring people to take action themselves and add their projects to the interactive B-Lines map.
Herefordshire Meadows will be leading on the delivery of 13 hectares of species-rich grassland creation in North Herefordshire.
“Get the Marches Buzzing” is funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, Severn Trent Water, Millichope Foundation, Telford & Wrekin Council, Milkywire.
Further details on the project can be found here.