TODAY (Saturday, July 2) has been National Meadows Day and the Malvern Hills Trust is encouraging people to get out and explore their local meadow.
People across the country have been recognising the importance of meadows, some of the UK’s most flower-rich habitats.
To encourage people to take part in the celebrations, the Malvern Hills Trust has provided a map of local meadows to encourage people to visit and experience these natural wonders.
Beck Baker, Community and Conservation Officer said: “Plantlife UK reports that 97 per cent of meadows have been lost in the UK since the 1930s and here at the Trust we’re taking working hard to care for and conserve these important and increasingly rare habitats.”.
The Trust owns and manages a number of meadows in the Malvern area that are open for the public to explore and enjoy including Malvern Common, Woodford’s Meadow and Colwall Green.
As well as colourful flowers including yellow rattle, common spotted orchid and knapweed, meadows also support a huge range of native wildlife such as butterflies and bees.
The Trust’s management of these habitats over time has led to an increase in floral diversity of these green spaces. This hard work culminated in the successful designation of Malvern Commons as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 2018, national recognition of the high quality of the meadow.
Beck added: “We were delighted to for the meadow at Malvern Common to be recognised as nationally important.
“Over the years we have been caring for this area we have seen an increase in diversity and the orchid display is incredibly special.
“We are extremely pleased to see that we’ve been doing the right thing to support our local meadows.
“Our meadows are cut once towards the end of summer to allow the flowers to set seed ready for the next year.
“The hay is collected and taken by a local farmer to feed their livestock or turned into soil conditioner that’s available to local people and allotments.”
People can check out the Malvern Hills Trust’s Meadows Map here so they can plan a walk and take a closer look at the diversity in the long grasses and wildflower areas.
The Trust also wants people to share their images of Malvern’s meadows on its Facebook and Twitter pages.
