Grasslands and meadows

Grasslands and meadows are vital habitats for a wide variety of wildflowers and insects essential for pollination.  

Wildflowers and grasses also help remove carbon from the atmosphere, which is important in tackling climate change.  

Green spaces are also beneficial to local communities, providing areas for people to exercise, relax and enjoy nature.  

Nature Isn’t Neat  

We’re working to create grassland corridors to enable nature to move between sites and increase biodiversity. 

In 2020, funding from the Local Places for Nature programme, enabled us to identify grassed areas that could be cut annually and the cuttings removed in late summer, a methodology used to encourage a diversity of flora.   

Since then, more than 200 sites have been identified as suitable for this management technique.  

These include areas in parks, cemeteries, alongside paths and road verges where visibility isn’t affected.  

In 2023, a rare wasp spider was found in two of the sites. This suggests the programme is helping nature to move to new areas and increasing biodiversity. 

Find out more about how our grasslands network is helping to tackle the effects of climate change.

Meadows 

Meadows are larger grassland areas rich in diverse species making them valuable in terms of biodiversity. 

But they are among the habitats at greatest risk in the UK.   

We’re working to enhance and connect meadows by creating grassland corridors, thanks to the annual cut and collect programme. 

In 2019, the rare Yellow Bartsia flower was found in scrubland in Cwmbran which was due to be developed. It was moved to a new meadow area created near Llantarnam Abby, which is now a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation.  

Local nature reserves and other Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Importance are also home to meadows.