Save Our Magnificent Meadows Conference

 

Save Our Magnificent Meadows is the UK’s largest conservation partnership project aiming to transform the fortunes of vanishing wildflower meadows, grasslands and wildlife.  The partnership, led by Plantlife, was made up of 11 organisations and was primarily funded by National Lottery players through the Heritage Lottery Fund. The partnership’s vision was to bring about this reversal in fortunes through a step-change in the nation’s understanding and appreciation, with project activities running from 2014 to 2017.

In the final year, this conference provided an opportunity to hear about the work that had been taking place across the UK, both within and outside of the project, and to identify the action still needed to restore and protect our unique grassland heritage.  It focused on three main areas of activity:

  • Trialing different restoration techniques across a range of grassland habitat types.  From conventional management such as scrub control to more novel methods such as seeding with green hay and brush harvested seed, we have been able to experiment with creating diverse grassland communities that will benefit wildlife.
  • Creating hundreds of opportunities for people all over the UK to visit, enjoy and celebrate meadows and grasslands. Connecting people with their local meadow in many different ways, from unusual cultural events to a volunteer Meadow Champion scheme.
  • Equipping communities with the passion, knowledge and skills to look after their wildflower meadows.  Taking a bespoke approach to supporting different communities.

Click on the links below to download a pdf of each of the presentations from the conference.

Click on the links below to download a pdf summary of each of the three workshops

Workshop A - How can species-rich grasslands (SRG) be made economic and part of a commercial farming system?

Workshop B - What are the knowledge and skills gaps with community groups – in relation to developing community meadows? 

Workshop C – How can ‘wellness’ be incorporated into how we manage species rich grasslands and are there any conflicts?