Species decline

Where have all the flowers gone?

In every county in Britain, common wild flowers are becoming scarcer and some species may be dying out altogether. In short, the plight of our wild plants is worse than anyone has imagined.

These are the daunting conclusions of research commissioned by Plantlife for their report Where have all the flowers gone?

Plantlife is campaigning for urgent action to put a stop to the wholesale impoverishment of our native flora.

The worst-hit counties have lost on average one native flower every year, throughout the 20th century. In the past 150 years 21 native flowering plants have completely disappeared from our islands. But even that may underestimate the pace of change. Today, wild plants are being lost at a still faster rate.

What’s the cause?

The main cause of species loss highlighted in the Plantlife report is pollution - from fertilisers, car exhausts, factory air pollutants and sewage. This pollution has dangerously enriched the soils of the UK and caused a substantial decline in the diversity of plant species across much of lowland Britain.

Vegetation is becoming increasingly dominated by fewer, widely occurring species, such as hawthorn and cleavers in hedges, stinging nettle by stream sides, rye-grass in grassland, and bracken on moors and heaths.

It means that very common plants become yet more common and rare ones become rarer.

Plantlife consider that increased fertility is probably irreversible, and there is no reason why the harmful trends of the last 30 years should not continue. Given these circumstances, it is hardly surprising that so many wild flowers are declining and dying out locally, even before we take habitat destruction into account.

What can you do?

Email and write letters to your MP encouraging the Government to respond to this threat with a strategy to counter harmful pollution. The strategy should include:
· Regulation and monitoring
· Research
· Best practice
· Financial incentives and penalties
· Education and awareness raising.

As a consumer you can take steps to reduce the amount of pollution you produce:
· Use 'greener' cleaning products, such as phosphate-free detergents
· Cut down on car use: use public transport or travel under your own steam where possible
· Recycle household waste
· Choose less intensively reared meat and organically grown produce.

Get involved in monitoring the state of our plants yourself. Plantlife's Common Plants Survey collects information on the fate of our commoner plants, including both sensitive species such as cowslip and those that positively thrive on nutrient enrichment like nettles.