Best-selling nature writer and broadcaster Stephen Moss is giving a free online talk to illustrate why creating wildflower meadows is important for turning around wildlife declines and helping to tackle climate change.
The 'Why meadows matter' talk, on Wednesday 3rd February at 7:30pm, focuses on a key habitat for the subject of Stephen Moss's latest book, The Swallow: A Biography. Wildflower-rich meadows are home to a diverse array of insects. That means they are important places not only for bumblebees, butterflies and other pollinators, but also for the smaller prey species hunted by insect-eating birds such as swallows.
This online event has been organised by Dartmoor-based Moor Meadows, a community wildflower and wildlife conservation group. Open to everyone, the event is free but you must register. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR PLACE
Traditional wildflower meadows have disappeared from most of the English countryside, largely due to changes in agriculture during the 20th century. With the loss of diverse wild plants came an associated loss of insects and other wildlife.
But in recent years, techniques have been perfected to re-create wildflower-rich grasslands. As groups such as Moor Meadows have shown, wildflower 'meadows' can be restored or created on farmland, in gardens and churchyards, and on roadside verges.
Event organizer and Moor Meadows co-founder Donna Cox of Buckfastleigh said: "Wildflower meadows are among the most important wildlife habitats, as they support disproportionately high numbers of plant and animal species. Yet 97% of Britain's wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s. Meadows have a fascinating history and are a wonderful wildlife spectacle in the present – but they are important for the future of both wildlife and people."
The free talk on 'Why meadows matter' will include a Question and Answer session so attendees can quiz Stephen Moss about the wildlife to be found in meadows and the importance of wildflower-rich grasslands for reducing pollution in our waterways, storing carbon from the atmosphere, reversing the declines in pollinating insects, helping to improve people's mental health and more.
Stephen Moss said: "Wildflower meadows have such a central importance not only for wildlife, but also in our history, literature and culture. They have all but disappeared in recent decades, but Moor Meadows is now helping to bring them back."
In addition to the general Q&A session the free event will also include a conversation between Stephen Moss and Dartmoor-based RSPB Chairman Kevin Cox.
Stephen Moss - Author of 'The Swallow: A Biography'
People enjoying Brimpts meadow, near Dartmeet. Photo credit Wendy Searle
Meadow brown butterfly Photo credit Robbie Phillips
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