We’re Losing Something – Will You Help Protect Our National Treasures?

Meadows have shaped our history and culture for centuries, yet most have been lost – and the precious few that remain are still at risk.

There is hope: people are starting to bring meadows back to life and every pocket of colour gives new hope for nature and climate. But progress is fragile and far too slow. With your support we can protect what’s left and restore so much more. Will you donate today to help protect these national treasures?

For generations meadows and people have worked together to survive – making food, supporting livelihoods and helping to combat climate change. Their history is our history.

But as our connection with nature has dwindled, meadows have suffered too, and now they’re at risk of disappearing. Your gift today could help prevent this.

Meadows have been bulldozed, over-fertilised and destroyed. Development, intensive farming and misguided tree planting have all left their mark on these landscapes.

We’ve lost an estimated 97% of wildflower meadows since the 1930s. Yet there is hope, every restored meadow shows what is possible but we need to do so much more. We can’t stand by and watch them vanish.

A donation of £5 could help restore the biodiversity of 45m2 of meadow[*].

Donate today

On a summer’s day, it’s easy to pass by and see only a meadow in bloom, full of colour and humming with life. Yet beneath the beauty lies a quiet force – capturing carbon, providing food and shelter for wildlife, and protecting the land from flooding.

When we think of ‘national treasures’, we tend to think of people, but maybe it’s time we recognise nature as the national treasure it is?

Wildflower meadows are remarkable. Their diverse seed banks, complex soil structures and vast fungal networks can take decades if not centuries to develop.

We need to safeguard these irreplaceable meadows from future destruction and restore their wild plant and fungal diversity at scale.

To secure the future of these national treasures, we need strong protections to prevent further loss, support for those who care for meadows, and a sustainable plan to improve the condition of other meadows. We cannot do this without you.

Our histories are intertwined. Their future depends on what we do now. You have the power to help protect these national treasures, please donate today.

Thank you for your support.

Best wishes,

Jo Riggall, Grassland Advocacy Officer

PS By donating £5 today you can help protect and restore meadows as the national treasures they are. Thank you.

Leaflet

Supporting Farmers

In Wales alone, your support has helped us work with more than 1,260 farmers and landowners
in the last three years. As part of the Glaswelltiroedd Gwydn (Resilient Grasslands) project we offered advice to help them care for their grasslands sustainably.

This included working with Peter and Catherine who have farmed Wern Ddu Uchaf for 34 years:
“I’ve learned a tremendous amount by working with Plantlife Advisors, they’ve really supported us…Plantlife have really taught us a lot about the farm and how to farm it.”

Farmers like Peter and Catherine are at the heart of this work and their deep knowledge of the land helps us promote nature-friendly farming practices that both protect and restore biodiversity.

You can help influence the way meadows are looked after, putting wild plants and fungi at the heart of land management.

Donate today

Growing Community Connections Across York

Recently, we’ve been supporting communities across York who care for meadows. We assessed their grassland, wrote bespoke management plans, and ran workshops and training.

For example:Volunteers and staff from the Personnel Recovery Centre at Foxglove Covert, owned and run by the MoD, have begun to turn a patch of land into a woodmeadow. They’ve followed our advice and made changes to the way the area is managed, and plans are underway to collect and sow seed from missing
species like Eyebright and Devil’s-bit Scabious found elsewhere on the reserve.

“Found these in-person workshops incredibly valuable to see other sites and get practical experience in the topics of the workshops. Also found the advice on management plan and discussions very useful.”

Our Shared History with Meadows

We each have our own story about meadows. Some of us remember seeing them in our childhood; for many,
they survive only in books, paintings, or the street names that whisper of a landscape we’ve already lost.

With your support, we can help bring them back. ‘‘I grew up in Ditchling in East Sussex and I remember seeing wildflowers when I was out on my bike or building dens with my friends. We liked using their nicknames: “eggs and bacon” for Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil and “bread and cheese” for Hawthorn shoots! I had a close, hands-on relationship with nature from a young age.” Martha Kearney in Plantlife Spring 2026 members magazine.

“Wildflower meadows naturally evoke a sense of play. I remember taking my children to a meadow when they were little and playing hide and seek. They loved lying down among the tall grass — their faces beaming up at me.” Cass Crocker, Senior Arts and Culture Officer, Plantlife.

Protecting an Ancient Lammas Meadow

Even our nature reserves need to be defended from outside threats. In 2025, we successfully campaigned alongside partners and local communities, to protect our Lugg Meadow nature reserve in Herefordshire from a housing development on neighbouring land.

This lammas floodplain meadow relies on an ancient management system where the meadow is divided into unenclosed parcels which are owned by a combination of local people and environmental organisations including Plantlife.

Each owner can take a crop of hay off their patch in July then from Lammas Day (1 August) to February, the land becomes common grazing. The meadow is an integral part of the community and the area’s cultural and natural history.

By stopping this particular development from going ahead, the wildflower meadow is protected from river pollution, nitrogen deposition and increased pressure from domestic pets.

Your support strengthens our ability to stand up for these precious places and demonstrate best practice in our reserves to neighbouring landowners.

Donate today

Fascinating Facts About Meadows

What Makes a Meadow a National Treasure?

• A typical meadow can be home to 570 flower heads per square metre on a single day in early summer. That’s nine million flowers in an average three-acre meadow. [1]
• At peak nectar flow at the beginning of August, the flowers in a three-acre meadow can produce nearly 6kg of nectar sugar per day, enough to feed over half a million bees. [1]
• The plants in a typical meadow can support nearly 1,400 species of invertebrates, that’s a multitude of bugs, beetles, flies, spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies and moths. [1]
• Flower-rich grasslands and meadows can store 500% more carbon than fields of pure grass. [1]
• Roots of meadow plants like Common Knapweed, Great Burnet and Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil can reach down two metres into the ground, helping them survive drought, stabilise the soil, store carbon and bring up valuable minerals for livestock to eat. [1]
• Looking at a flower like Oxeye Daisy for just six seconds has been shown to lower your blood pressure. [2]

Wildflower meadows are national treasures – vital for nature, climate and people. But we’ve lost most of them.

There is hope: people are starting to bring meadows back to life and every pocket of colour gives new hope. But progress is fragile and far too slow.

Your support can help protect and restore meadows, and support those that care for them. Please donate today if you can.

Donate today