A CHARITY project to conserve a key landscape feature of the Yorkshire Dales has been hailed on its tenth anniversary for bringing hay meadows “back from the brink”.
Carl Lis, chairman of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, said the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust’s ambitious Hay Time project had made an outstanding contribution towards preserving the park’s environment and wildlife.
Over the last 50 years, 97 per cent of meadows in the UK have been lost through agricultural intensification, and ten years ago only 200 hectares remained in the Yorkshire Dales, placing them among the most threatened habitats and putting hundreds of native wildlife species species at risk.
The trust’s scheme has seen it work alongside farmers and with partners Natural England, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to restore more than 600 hectares of degraded meadows across the Yorkshire Dales and Forest of Bowland.
Tanya St. Pierre, Hay Time officer, said it would take hundreds of years for the meadows to be fully restored, but the scheme had already seen wildlife changes, with up to one tonne of insects living in a five-acre area of herb-rich meadows.
The scheme was launched after the park authority struggled to raise funds to save the declining species-rich hay meadows in the area. When funding for the project ended in 2013, the trust set up an appeal, which has received £186,500 in donations.
Mr Lis said the scheme had proven successful and popular. He added: “You only have to walk in the meadows to appreciate what has been done. I often think doctors should prescribe a walk in those meadows rather than pills.”
Ambassador to the Hay Time project Chris Myers said: “YDMT’s work to bring back wildflower meadows has really struck a chord with people, not only because these meadows are vital habitats for native wildlife, but also because they are a beautiful and iconic part of our landscape, and a living piece of our cultural history.”
The Hay Time project is not just about practical conservation. Through education and events it is also helping more people to experience the beauty of species-rich meadows, and helping them to understand the vital role they play as a habitat for pollinators and rare species.
You can support hay meadow restoration by dedicating a piece of living wildflower meadow in the Yorkshire Dales for only £25. Find out more at www.ydmt.org/LivingBouquet
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