Partnership helps restore networks for nature
A partnership to create networks for nature has restored eight flower-rich meadow habitats around Telford and Wrekin, with signs explaining some of the species that can be found there.
The partnership between Buglife, and Telford & Wrekin Council has seen 12 hectares of wildflower grassland restored as part of Buglife’s national B-Lines project which aims to create a network of green pathways joining up wildflower habitats, providing more space for vital pollinators and other invertebrates to move freely with the landscape.
Councillor Carolyn Healy, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Planning and Sustainability, said: “The B-Line project adds to the existing species-rich wildflower meadows in many of our 20 Local Nature Reserve sites around the borough.
“By working with Buglife to restore these additional meadows we’re creating wildflower-rich habitats that act as stepping stones to link our green spaces together, creating a network of flower-rich grasslands that benefit pollinators like bees, rare Dingy Skipper butterflies and other wildlife.”
Emily Hughes, Conservation Officer at Buglife, added: “Wildflower grasslands are vital habitats for pollinators and other wildlife, yet since the 1930s over 97% of flower rich grasslands have been lost in England, resulting in fragmented areas, with pollinators unable to move freely between them.
“Our B Lines project, called Get the Marches Buzzing (2), is not only helping to create a network for nature, and in particular pollinators and wildflowers, but we’ve also been surveying these spaces and creating information signs to let people know what species they can look out for.”
To explain the work that has been done, and highlight some of the wildflowers, pollinators and other invertebrates that can be found at each site, new interpretation boards have been installed at several sites including Wombridge Road and Capewell Road in Trench, and at Langley Fields Local Nature Reserve.
Buglife has also provided hundreds of wildflower plant plugs to further enhance the grasslands, including new meadow areas at Dawley Hamlets Local Nature Reserve that Southhall School Duke of Edinburgh students have been restoring.
