A meadow with a royal stamp of approval is at the root of the spread of rare
wildflowers in north Devon.
The meadow in question is Dunsdon, a National Nature Reserve owned by leading
conservation charity Devon Wildlife Trust. Its 140 acres near Holsworthy are some of
the best remaining Culm grasslands in the UK. Culm is famous for its rich summer
displays of wildflowers including orchids, Devil's-bit scabious and others that have
largely disappeared from the wider countryside.
In 2012 Dunsdon received royal approval when it was made Devon's Coronation Meadow.
The award came from an original idea of HRH Prince of Wales. As a way to mark
celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Queen's coronation the Prince proposed
that a meadow be designated in every county. 97% of the nation's wildflower meadows
have been lost in the last 75 years, and it was concern for their disappearance that
lay behind the Prince's initiative.
Two years on Dunsdon not only continues to flourish but it is now being used as the
focus point of a project which is seeing more wildflower meadows being established
elsewhere. This summer Dunsdon has become a 'donor site' for wildflower seed which
is now being used to create new meadows nearby.
The work is being funded through the Partnership Scheme by Biffa Award; a
multi-million pound fund which awards grants to community and environmental projects
across the UK. The project has involved Devon Wildlife Trust staff gathering seed
from the Culm grassland meadows of Dunsdon using a specialist bit of kit known as a
seed harvester. The seed is then dried while a 'receptor site' is prepared nearby.
The ground of the receptor site is cut to reduce its existing grass covering and
then their top layer of soil is disturbed using a tractor-pulled implement similar
to a harrow. In the final stage sowing takes place. Then the long wait begins
watching to see what wildflowers appear the following spring and summer.
In recent weeks wildflower seed from Dunsdon National Nature Reserve has been used
with this method to sow ten acres of land at nearby Headon Farm. The land was
purchased by Devon Wildlife Trust in March this year. Matt Boydell, the charity's
Nature Reserves manager, explained: "Our new land at Headon Farm lacks the
wildflowers that could support a wider range of local wildlife. Our aim is to
improve it, so that's why we've embarked on this work. Seed from Dunsdon will allow
us to do this. We're planting ten acres this year and then will do a further 20
acres over the next two summers."
Matt continued: "This kind of work is exactly what Coronation Meadows were intended
to do. They aren't meant to be standalone relics, the last remaining wildflower rich
places in our countryside. Instead the intention is that they will act as the
starting places for a movement to bring back wildflowers to the wider countryside."
The existing wildflower meadows of Devon Wildlife Trust's Dunsdon National NatureReserve are home to many rare and threatened plants and animals including marsh
fritillary butterflies, barn owls and lesser butterfly orchids. The charity's hope
is that these species will now begin to spread along with the seed of Devon's first
Coronation Meadow.
| Seed Harvesting - Photo copyright DWT (All rights reserved) |
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