Given that we have lost a staggering 97% of wildflower meadows in less than a century it is almost impossible to exaggerate how crucial grassy road verges are to wildlife. In many counties where the devastation of meadows has been particularly severe, verges are the last remaining fragments of grassland where flowers and the wealth of wildlife they support can still survive and prosper.
We now have 238,000 hectares of road verges compared to just 85,000 hectares of surviving flower-rich grassland and for many plants these roadside mini-meadows are their main refuge: over 700 species of wildflowers grow on verges, nearly 45% of our total flora. Road verges are both a last remaining refuge for some unbelievably rare plants like Wood calamint (1) and absolutely crucial to bee and butterfly populations now left with no meadow to call home.
Thanks to your INCREDIBLE support the ongoing campaign to save and protect meadows is now firing on all cylinders. Over 345,000 of you amazing nature-lovers have demonstrated to Michael Gove just how much you care, and wild plant charity Plantlife have met with the Prime Minister's Office to tell government to get serious about protecting our magnificent but rapidly vanishing meadows. Just a few days ago Caroline Lucas MP signalled her support (2).
- NOW YOUR HELP IS NOW DESPERATELY NEEDED to help raise the profile of our often-neglected road verges. PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE THE PETITION if you want to see road verges far better managed for nature > https://bit.ly/2v0l3Zj
Verges really are fundamental to wildlife, and so much more than those forgotten, litter-strewn 'edgelands' that flash by in the car wing mirror as we speed ahead with our busy lives.
Thankfully, strikingly simple verge management changes like mowing less and later in the year can have a hugely positive outcome for flowers, bees and butterflies and that's what Plantlife are pushing all councils to do.
You can stay up to date at:
o By email: https://bit.ly/2MHHEA9
o Twitter: https://twitter.com/Love_plants
o Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LovePlantlife/
o Plantlife website: www.Plantlife.org.uk
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