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Sun, sand, sea and wildflowers – why not add finding flowers to your list of beach time activities this summer.
Oh we do like to be beside the seaside – and as it turns out so do a variety of beautiful wild plants.
When we head to the coast, we often think of building sandcastles or rockpooling – delving into the shallow waters to see what ocean wonders have been deposited by the tide. It’s a favourite past time. But there are many other treasures to spot by the sea this summer, if we just turn our gaze up from the water.
The salty sea air and sandy soil might prove a problem for some plants, but others thrive in these conditions.
That being said, nature as a whole, in the UK is in decline. Since the 1970s, a total of 54% of flowering plants have been lost from areas where they used to thrive. This means beautiful plants such as Heather and Chamomile, both of which you can find on our coastlines, are becoming harder to find.
So, when you next head out with your bucket and spade, why not see if you can spot some of the stunning species that adore the seaside as much as we do! Lets take time to appreciate the wild plants that call the coast home and help to protect their future.
Keep on the lookout before you arrive at the beach as there are plenty of species to spot on the walk down to the sand. From coastal paths and cliffs to streams that lead to the sea and maritime heaths, there are multiple habitats for plants to call home.
Here are some of our favourites:
Gorse is a spiny plant with yellow flowers that smell of coconut
Thrfits have pretty spherical blooms which are usually pink, but can also be purple or white
Kidney Vetch usually has clusters of yellow fluffy looking flowers
Common Reeds are a tall perennial growing up to 3m
Biting Stonecrop with it’s pretty star shaped yellow flowers
Sheep’s-bit has rounded flower heads that are bright blue in colour and grow up to 35mm
Once you get down to the beach itself, a whole new habitat opens up. While the landscape might seem arid, there a number of interesting plants you can find living in the sand.
Sea Mayweed has flowers that look like large daisies with a mass of leaves that are quite thick and succulent
Rock Samphire has lots of branches with succulent type leaves that are rounded
Sea-holly is easy to spot with it’s spiny leaves and blue flowers
Sea Sandwort is a long creeping perennial that has fleshy succulent leaves
Common Restharrow has small pink flowers, similar to those of a pea
Sea Campions have five white petals with splits down the middle, which can make it look as though the flowers have ten petals each
The best thing about species spotting, is that you really don’t need any equipment that you wouldn’t already have, just appropriate clothing and footwear for exploring the coast.
If you did want to bring anything along, you could take a plant guide, so that you can name any species you find that we haven’t included. You could also bring a hand lens with a x10 or x20 magnification to get a close up look at the petals and leaves and a camera to capture memories from your adventure.
To help you ID some of the species you find, why not read our blog here, on three apps to help you identify wildflowers with your phone.
Remember to stay safe when you are by the sea. Stay well away from cliff edges and bases, pay attention to any warning signs such as those in areas where there may be rock falls and always make yourself aware of the tide times before heading to the beach.
Discover 4 new walk ideas and Scottish spring adventure inspiration from Plantlife Scotland’s Communications and Policy Officer, Erin Shott.
In the UK we have over 45 species of orchid – which might be more than you thought! Learn more about this wild and wonderful family of plants with Plantlife wildflower expert Sarah Shuttleworth.
Spring is an exciting time to be on our nature reserves. This is the season when the meadows really burst into life, with lush growth and seasonal flowers.
The peat-rich Flow Country, which our Munsary Peatlands are part of, has been given the same standing as the Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon.
This marks a special moment for Scottish wild plants, fungi and the wildlife that call it home.
With the same standing as the Pyramids and the Great Barrier Reef, The Flow Country has been granted UNESCO World Heritage Status – marking a magnificent moment for Scottish wildlife.
Deep within this historic landscape is our own Munsary Peatlands, which is an incredibly special place for plant life. One of the most extensive peatlands left in Europe, our Munsary Nature Reserve is key for tackling the ongoing climate crisis.
Alistair Whyte, Head of Plantlife Scotland said: “The Flow Country may be less well-known than the Great Barrier Reef, the Grand Canyon and the Pyramids but it is cause for great celebration that it today has achieved the same standing as those rightly revered places on Earth. Recognition of the special significance of this wet and wild habitat in northern Scotland, where ancient peat can be as deep as a double-decker bus, demonstrates a growing recognition of the importance of peatlands to plants, people and planet.”
This historical moment also means the Flow Country has become the world’s first peatland World Heritage Site.
After years of hard work, we are thrilled that The Flow Country, in northern Scotland, has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site – a special moment for Scottish wild plants, fungi and the wealth of the wildlife they support.
UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of natural and cultural heritage around the globe considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. What makes the concept of World Heritage so special is its universal application. World Heritage sites belong to all people, irrespective of where they are located.
The list of World Heritage Sites is as varied as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to the Pyramids of Egypt – and now that list includes the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland, located near Lybster in Scotland (among just over 30 sites currently in the UK).
Munsary, a vast and undulating plain of blanket bog, is home to a huge variety of wildlife including some rare and threatened species.
This historic landscape is the most intact and extensive blanket bog system in the world. As well as being very important for biodiversity, it is also classed as an Important Plant Area (IPA). IPAs are key sites for exceptional botanical richness and identified as the best places for wild plants and their habitats.
So far, 147 species of vascular plants have been recorded at Munsary including the nationally-scarce Small Cranberry and a patch of Marsh Saxifrage, discovered in 2002, which is one of the largest colonies in Britain. The reserve in Caithness is also home to a Bog Orchid, a tiny yellow-green orchid which is so slight as to be almost invisible in the few bogs where it grows.
But, healthy peatlands – like Munsary – are more than just wildlife havens; they also have a vitally important role as we tackle the climate emergency. In fact, the vast expanse of pristine peat formed over many millennia at Munsary locks up a staggering two million tonnes of carbon.
Some species to look out for inlcude:
A special feature at Munsary is an unusual-looking area of dark-watered pools, high on a dome of peat, called dubh lochans. This area is particularly diverse, with pools of different shapes, sizes and depths, vegetated pools, and open water, ridges, and hummocks.
Even a visitor who has never studied mosses can spot differences between those forming the peat. Some form neat, rounded mounds, others are brownish or reddish tufts, while others make a deceptive green lawn, floating over water of an uncertain depth.
The drier areas of bog moss are home to many characteristic bog plants: Bog Asphodel, with spikes of yellow flowers, Common Cottongrass, with many white cottony heads in summer, and hare’s-tail cottongrass with just a single, fluffier head. Three species of heather grow here and plenty of sedges too, including such hard-to-find species as few-flowered sedge, flea sedge and bog-sedge.
Insect-eating plants lurk beside streams and wet pools: butterwort, with a basal rosette of broad, yellow-green leaves on which small insects stick, and round leaved and great sundew, with long red hairs on their leaves curving over to entrap their prey.
Peatlands are home to some of the UK’s most distinctive plant communities – they have evolved in response to the low-nutrient conditions. This has led to some remarkable adaptations such as the insect-eating sundews and butterworts, and the spongy blankets of colourful spagnum mosses.
They are also one of our most important terrestrial carbon sinks. But when bogs are drained or the peat is exploited, the peat gets exposed to the air and begins to break down, releasing carbon dioxide. This turns a huge carbon store into a vast emitter, contributing to climate change. Read more here.
Here we delve into this mind-boggling realm to discover ten of weirdest, wackiest and most wonderful facts from the world of fungi!
Horticultural businesses, major retailers and NGOs have come together to call on the government to legislate to end peat sales.
Often when people think about autumnal colours, their first thought is the trees – but we can't stop looking at the colourful displays of our other wild plants and fungi!
It’s not just humans and animals that have DNA in their cells, plants and fungi do too.
In fact, DNA barcoding can be used to identify plants, detect invasive species and help conservation work, as our Senior Ecological Advisor Sarah Shuttleworth explains.
Like all living organisms, plants and fungi have DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in their cells. DNA is the genetic code, which is the blueprint for genes, which gives an organism its specific characteristics. Different species will have a different DNA blueprint (with small variations within that as well) and these can help us tell species apart and see which ones are closely related.
I was recently offered a place on an exciting course to learn all about DNA barcoding and how it can help my work as a botanist.
Put simply, we can compare different DNA blueprints by comparing just a small section of the DNA sequence. This small section is referred to as the DNA barcode. There is a reference library which contains information about many species with their corresponding barcode.
In order to compare DNA barcodes of different species, the shortened sequence (region) needs to be the same region of the comparison species. However, which region you select to shorten and use for comparison is different depending on which type of organism you have. For example, all organisms within the animal kingdom are identified using the same specific DNA region, whilst all plants are identified using a different region.
The DNA region used for barcoding differs between kingdoms:
DNA barcoding relies on a region of DNA that varies significantly between different species to allow the different species to be identified.
First, we need to collect a tiny bit of plant and/or fungi samples for our study. We don’t need much, just a small amount to get the DNA. To get the DNA out, we cut really tiny pieces from the samples. Then, we put these pieces in a tube with a special liquid solution and smush them with a small tool to break the cells apart and release the DNA.
Next, we need to make lots of copies of the DNA which we do by using a special mix of certain chemicals (there are different special mixes for plants and fungi).
To check if we’ve done it right, we use a method called gel electrophoresis. This method is used to separate mixtures of DNA, RNA, or proteins to molecular size (you will see a nice clear line in the gel if it has been successful.) This helps us see if the DNA we extracted is good and whether we can send it to the lab. The lab will then send us the DNA sequence so it can be compared it to other sequences in a big database.
Using these DNA barcoding skills can help us in many ways, including identifying single species or a community of species.
It is quite a technical process but as local groups (mainly fungi recording organisations) are starting to invest in the kit, more people should be able to get involved in DNA barcoding.
I hadn’t had a chance to do anything like this since my first year at university and I was surprised about how much came flooding back to me. The course was a great opportunity to learn and refresh my skills, as well as meet other people with an interest in species identification and conservation.
After more practicing, we hope to use these skills to add to the genomic database and assist our own species recording accuracy.
In the future, perhaps Plantlife can utilise these skill sets for looking at species assemblages on our reserves or places we are hoping to maximise conservation efforts.
Volunteer biological recording group RoAM (Recorders of the Avalon Marshes) at Somerset Wetlands NNR (National Nature Reserve) organised the DNA barcoding course with funding from Natural England through the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme. I was offered a spot on this exciting course due to my work and contacts in a voluntary capacity with the North Somerset and Bristol Fungi Group.
Natural England: EDNA (Environmental DNA) approaches to environmental monitoring are incredibly valuable to Natural England’s work, but recognise their limitations, not least that some groups of fungi, lichen and invertebrates are poorly represented in genomic databases. By helping to train our highly skilled taxonomic recorders with DNA barcoding means better records and more effective eDNA outputs.
The beautiful mountain plant, Rosy Saxifrage, has returned to the wild in Wales after becoming extinct in 1962.
This beautiful mountain plant, that once clung to the cliff edges in Eryri (Snowdonia) has successfully returned to the wild in Wales after becoming extinct in 1962.
The trial reintroduction of Rosy Saxifrage Saxifraga rosacea, led by us, marks a special moment for nature recovery. The plants, which have been maintained in cultivation, have direct lineage to the 1962 specimens.
It is now flowering at a location close to where it was last recorded in the wild – and there are plans in place to boost its numbers now the first trial has taken place.
The species was first recorded in Wales in 1796 by J.W.Griffith (Clark, 1900) and there are up to five records from the 19th century. In the 20th century, there are three records, all in Eryri.
But, it is thought that Rosy Saxifrage slipped into extinction in Wales, primarily as a result of plant enthusiasts over collecting the species, particularly in the Victorian era. Atmospheric pollution is also considered to have played a role. Rosy Saxifrage is not a great competitor with stronger growing plants, so it was impacted by the nutrient enrichment of its favoured mountain habitat.
Each and every native wild plant contributes to the diversity and health of ecosystems and putting Rosy saxifrage back where it belongs restores a lost balance.
The successful reintroduction has been led by our botanist Robbie Blackhall-Miles, Project Officer for the Tlysau Mynydd Eryri (Mountain Jewels of Eryri) conservation partnership project that aims to secure the futures of some of our rarest alpine plants and invertebrates in Wales.
The outplanting took place on land cared for by the National Trust and in future months botanists will conduct surveys to establish places where it will be best to reintroduce the species fully to the wild.
Read more about Rosy Saxifrage here.
Photographs by: Llyr Hughes
After a decade of research and partnership work on Fen Orchids we now believe that the orchid could finally be removed from the Red Lists for both England and Great Britain.
This programme began when Plantlife was invited, in 2007, to join the Fen Orchid partnership in England, led then by Norfolk Wildlife Trust under the Species Recovery Programme (funded by Natural England, then English Nature).
The Trust were Lead Partners for fen orchid in England under the English Biodiversity Action Planning structures then in force.
In 2008, the Trust asked if Plantlife could take over as lead partner. At that point, fen orchid had only been known in 3 sites in England since 1975 and the population had never been known to reach 1000 plants.
We accepted that invitation and set about reviewing and revising the conservation programme, following five main threads:
As with with most of Plantlife’s work and conservation programmes, the fen orchid programme always has been a partnership effort, with different organisations fulfilling different roles.
We acknowledge the excellent habitat management work undertaken by
The programme would not function without the financial, technical and moral support provided by organisations like
We also appreciate the technical expertise and resources contribution to the reintroduction programme provided by:
Since 2008, Plantlife’s role has been, under the English Species Recovery Programme, to:
The record of the partnership speaks for itself: since 2009, the population of fen orchids in England has climbed year on year.
From fewer than 1000 plants at three sites to an estimated 17,000 plants (in 2023) at seven sites.
The aim of the conservation programme has always been to reduce the Threat Status (as assessed by the English Vascular Plant Red List group) of fen orchid, and, if possible, to reduce the Threat level to Least Concern.
This is a challenging ambition but a recent re-assessment has shown that we are very close to our goal.
This is essentially due to the increase in the number of known English sites combined with consistent population expansion over the last 15 years.
This re-assessment applies also at Great Britain level, although recovery in Wales has been less rapid. Work there by Bridgend Council and Natural Resources Wales has produced very favourable results and Plantlife are proud that we contributed to a partnership that found funding for large scale dune restoration work there.
Natur Am Byth!
Discover the twisted, gnarled woodlands at the highest, wildest peaks in Wales, as Robbie Blackhall-Miles reveals the secrets of Eryri’s miniature but magical Juniper and Dwarf Willow woodlands.
On the high peaks of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and on the Glyderau there grows a forest that is little more than a foot high. A forest of Juniper Juniperus communis subsp. nana nestled among the rocks in the crags and crevices. They are everywhere, if you look in the right places, creeping through the thin turf and sprawling over rocks.
If you scramble over the jagged ridges of Crib Goch and Crib Y Ddisgl you will find them. On Esgair Felen they tumble down the cliffs and on the upper reaches of the Watkin Path you will be walking through the middle of this ‘coedwig fach’ (little forest). Y Lliwedd, one of the satellite peaks of Yr Wyddfa, holds the largest of these forests and here you can’t fail to notice them, although you may not realise they are trees.
Their twisted and gnarled trunks keep close to the ground, bonsaied by the cold and the wind in the exposed locations in which they grow. These small trees are glacial relics from a time between the ice ages, like many of our Arctic – Alpine species.
They are clinging on literally for dear life in the least accessible locations in our mountains where they find refuge from the goats and the sheep and the deep time history of clearance of our mountain woodlands.
These Juniper plants, alongside Dwarf Willown Salix repens, are the fragmented upper reaches of a special type of woodland that has almost disappeared from the mountains of Eryri.
A woodland of low growing scrubby willows, junipers and other ‘Krummholz’ trees and shrubs. ‘Krummholz’ is a German word that is used to describe dwarfed gnarled trees that push high into the mountains to eke out their existence in a tangled and contorted state.
This scrubby, fairy woodland would have once spread from about 450 metres in altitude, the natural treeline, almost to the summits of Eryri. Elsewhere in Britain it is found in the Scottish Highlands and there are fragments of it in the Lake District. It still just about exists here in Wales on the edges and ledges where people and grazers have never ventured.
The trees of Eryri are under recorded, with limited records of trees in the high mountains, so there is still so much more to understand about these sky-high forests.
Recently, whilst out climbing, I discovered a tree species I was not expecting on a ledge, a Bird Cherry Prunus padus. The discovery of this cherry links our mountain woodlands even more directly to those of Scotland where Bird Cherry is a common feature.
Read more about the work Natur am Byth! is doing through the Tlysau Mynydd Eryri project to better understand these tiny but fascinating forests, alongside Bangor University.
Juniper growing on the steep cliffs of Eryri
Restoration of this mosaic of alpine woodland comes with great benefits. This habitat is ecologically vital, for invertebrates’ montane trees and shrubs are particularly important and many of these woody species support high diversity of endemic ectomycorrhizal fungi. Additionally, mountain woodland habitat and willow scrub can provide protection against extreme weather for rare tall herb and alpine plant communities which would otherwise be exposed and struggle to persist in alpine environments.
The increasing diversity enabled by these wooded upland communities has positive impacts for small mammals and birds such as Ring Ouzel. Succession in these wooded habitats builds soil organic matter through their leaf litter. These woodlands reduce erosion by building these soils and halt water runoff which reduces the impacts of flooding.
So, if you are planning a trip up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) any time soon, keep an eye open for the forest you are walking through and take a moment to stop and think about what the mountains may have looked like before their woodlands almost disappeared, the other species that were lost with them and the way they could look again.
Want to support our work? However you choose to support, you will be helping to champion wild plants and fungi, helping us to protect nature, tackle the impacts of climate change and support people and communities.
Discover the gnarled woodlands on the wildest peaks in Wales, as Robbie Blackhall-Miles reveals the secrets of Eryri’s miniature but magical Juniper forests.
Whether it’s your back garden, local park, community field or lawn, wildflower meadows are amazing spaces with so much to offer.
Did you know that the Wild Leek has its roots in Welsh culture dating back thousands of years?
Discover its fascinating history with Robbie Blackhall-Miles and Lizzie Wilberforce, and why we think it deserves the spotlight on St David’s Day.
The nodding yellow heads of spring-flowering daffodils are now our most recognisable symbol of St David’s Day; indeed, they’re a symbol of Wales itself. However, daffodils are relative newcomers to this scene, dating only to the 19th century as an emblem for the country. The Leek, however, has been a symbol of Wales for so long that its stories date back to St David himself, who is thought to have died in the year 589.
Legend describes how Welsh soldiers were ordered to identify themselves by wearing a Leek on their helmet, as they fought the Saxons in the north of England and the Midlands, under the command of King Cadwaladr of Gwynedd.
As with all such oral histories so long and so widely told, there are many different variations of this legend; however, the long presence of the Leek across many centuries of Welsh history is undeniable.
Most of us now think of Leeks as the large, cultivated vegetable we see in supermarkets – not at all suitable for attaching to a helmet in battle! However their genus, Allium, also contains a number of species that are either native, or ancient introductions to Britain. These have a far lengthier heritage than the domesticated vegetable, and would have been growing in north Wales at the time of both King Cadawladr and St David.
One of these is Allium ampeloprasum var. ampleoprasum, a variety of the Wild Leek that still grows today in Anglesey. It is a large plant, growing up to 2m high, with a dense spherical flowerhead of pink-purple flowers. This would certainly have made a distinctive and plausible addition a soldier’s helmet. Could this be the real Leek of Welsh legend?
Wild Leek isn’t actually native to Britain – but it’s one of the archaeophytes, meaning that it was introduced by humans long ago – perhaps by traders, hundreds of years before the time of St David. It’s likely that it would have been grown and valued by the people of north Wales for its nutritional and medical properties.
Evidence for this can be found in The Red Book of Hergest (c. 1375-1425). This is one of the most important books ever written in Welsh, and it is a compilation of mythology, poetry, and chronicles of the time. It includes contemporary medical texts, which name Leeks in many recipes for treatments and cures.
The regular appearance of Leeks in other, later texts also suggests that the plants were quite readily available to the people of Wales. They must have been much more common than they are today.
Sadly, Wild Leek is now considered at risk of extinction in Wales, with small populations remaining only on Anglesey, and on Steep Holm and Flat Holm islands. However, a healthy population is held in cultivation by Plantlife Cymru’s Robbie Blackhall-Miles.
This will help to secure the long-term safety of this now rare species in Wales. Given its fascinating and long association with the communities of Wales, possibly even St David himself – this is surely to be celebrated- especially on St David’s Day.
It’s not just animals that have DNA in their cells, plants and fungi do too – and understanding it can help us with hard to identify plants.
Embedding the principles outlined in Plantlife’s latest guidance into your Local Nature Recovery Strategy will drive tangible, positive change for your local wildlife and local communities.
Discover how, by targeting conservation efforts towards wild plants and fungi, you can deliver the greatest knock-on benefits for all species and habitats.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) are a crucial element of the UK government’s commitments to turn the tide on species loss in England. If they are properly informed and implemented, they could deliver huge gains for biodiversity and serve to reconnect communities with nature recovery.
The intention is that each of the 48 LNRS regions (broadly following county lines) will produce a locally owned and informed action plan to;a) spotlight and map high priority areas for biodiversity where nature can be conserved, restored, and connected andb) establish a sense of local ownership and responsibility for wildlife.
As these strategies are going to target a lot of future conservation work in England it’s absolutely vital that we get them right, and make sure they deliver the wide range of environmental benefits that we urgently need.
Plantlife are using this opportunity to advocate the indispensable role that wild plants and fungi play in ecosystem function, and to help responsible authorities design and deliver LNRSs with species protection at their hearts.
1. Including specialist data on habitats and species to produce a really well-informed knowledge base of local biodiversity.
Having this knowledge base early on will produce the most reliable map of opportunities for biodiversity protection and enhancement going forwards.
2. Implementing measures to boost species diversity and prevent the further loss of species.
Increasing the structural diversity of a habitat will create more niches for different species to occupy, and it’s important that bespoke plans for priority species present are always included within habitat management. This will prevent extinctions, while improving the condition of the overall habitat.
3. Recognising our grasslands for the powerful nature-based solutions that they are.
Species-rich grasslands are some of our most reliable habitats for carbon storage and wildlife support, but they are being lost at an alarming rate.
Designing LNRSs which protect and restore species rich grasslands will support whole communities of wildlife and create stable, long-term sub-soil carbon stores.
4. Promoting a diversity of management approaches across our treescape to reflect the unique requirements of each woodland type.
Woods and trees need to be managed to sustain the breadth of species they can support, this means diversifying our woods in terms of tree species and age, creating open spaces and transitional habitats, and preserving ancient trees for lichen and bryophyte diversity.
5. Always working to the principle of ‘Right Tree, Right Place, Right Management’ when designing tree planting schemes.
Increasing tree cover cannot come at the cost of our existing priority wildlife and carbon stores.
6. Mitigating the damaging impacts of air pollution, through nature-based solutions and emission reduction measures.
Air pollution is a serious issue nationally, and it threatens wildlife as well as human health. LNRS provide an opportunity to tackle this threat both by mapping sources of emissions and areas of high deposition and implementing measures to mitigate the impacts of pollution.
7. Improving the condition and extent of green infrastructure networks.
Well-designed and protected urban green space such as road verges and amenity grasslands connect urban habitats with the wider countryside.
This reverses habitat fragmentation, locks away carbon, supports biodiversity, reduces pollution, tackles heat extremes, minimises flooding and improves health and wellbeing.
8. Taking steps to improve local ecosystem health and climate resilience.
Many of the threats our species and habitats are currently facing are projected to worsen with rising global temperatures, but by leveraging the power of local each LNRSs can make a difference at a small scale which, scaled up across England, can improve our overall resilience.
Download a copy of Plantlife’s guidance for local action – ‘How to Design your LNRS to Deliver for Plants and Fungi’
If you live in England, contact your local council to find out what’s happening with the LNRS for your area and how you can get involved.
After a big government announcement, our experts have been delving into the details on the latest funding changes for farmers.
As governments continue to undervalue grasslands, Plantlife is calling on policymakers to help farmers make sustainable choices.
A new English government strategy for temperate rainforest has been released, but restoring the rainforest in England requires a more detailed approach that recognises and addresses the threats. To put the rainforest on the path to recovery, concrete action is needed.
Nitrogen in the air is one of the greatest threats to our wild plants, lichens and fungi – yet few people have even heard about it.
Plantlife is working with governments, landowners and other partners to tackle its devastating impacts.
The evidence is clear. Nitrogen has built up in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels and intensive farming. Transport, power stations, industry, farm fertilisers and livestock are all major sources of nitrogen oxides and ammonia emissions.
Deposited directly from the air and in rain, this nitrogen is a form of pollution, creating acidic conditions and causing direct damage to our wild plants, lichens and fungi.
Over two thirds of our wild flowers, plants like Harebell Campanula rotundifolia and Betony Betonica officinalis require low or medium levels of nitrogen. Only robust species, such as Nettle Urtica dioica, Cleavers Galium aparine and Hemlock Conium maculatum thrive in soils with high nitrogen levels.
Species-rich grasslands, woodlands, heathlands and peat bogs are all under threat from air pollution. This even reaches remote mountain tops and the rainforest of Scotland’s west coast as they have higher levels of nitrogen-rich rainfall.
Alarmingly, 68% of sensitive habitat area in the UK has excessive levels of nitrogen – in England and Wales alone, this figure rises to more than 93% (Trends Report 2022, published on the UK-AIR website).
Reducing air pollution will have huge benefits for biodiversity as well as public health and our climate. Ammonia emissions from farming need particular attention as they have fallen so little in recent decades compared to other air pollutants.
Armed with powerful evidence and practical solutions, Plantlife is ‘talking about nitrogen’ with governments and partners across the UK to drive forward the action that is so urgently needed.
This report summarises current evidence and raises awareness of where nitrogen is coming from, the impacts on habitats, plants and fungi, and how it is recorded.
A call to protect Wales’ internationally important wild flora and fungi from air pollution. This report focuses on the less well-known issue of ammonia pollution arising from intensive farming.
This report presents the available evidence on atmospheric nitrogen deposition and its impacts on Scotland’s plants and fungi and the wildlife that depend on them.
Discover how Plantlife is working with governments to protect and restore temperate rainforest along the Atlantic coast of Britain.
Learn how you can make an impact on Scotland's new Natural Environment Bill, putting wild plants at the heart of plans for nature recovery.
We are working to restore Pasqueflower, which can only be found at 19 sites across England, and Juniper, which is facing extinction in southern Britain.
Pasqueflower, which is threatened and declining, has been lost from many of the places where it used to grow. This rare wildflower, which is considered ‘vulnerable’ in Britain, can now only be found at 19 sites across England – after it was lost from 108 sites.
Similarly, Juniper – which has been lost from nearly 50% of its historic range – is facing extinction from southern Britain. Over the past 60 years, this iconic shrub has struggled to regenerate and whole colonies are dying out. If this trend continues, more than 100 special invertebrates and fungi that depend upon it will disappear too.
Funded by Natural England’s Species Recovery Capital Grant Scheme, we will be running a variety of species recovery projects – including for Pasqueflower and Juniper.
We have received a share of a £14.5m award to recover some of England’s most endangered species.
Both Pasqueflower and Juniper urgently need the help this project will provide.
Plantlife has been working to reinstate lost Juniper landscapes over recent years. Since 2009, we have been trialling techniques to reinstate the shrub and 10 out of 14 sites now boast healthy populations of young bushes.
Without vital work such as this, Juniper is likely to become extinct in lowland England within the next 50 years – which in turn could impact other species such as Goldcrest, Fieldfare and Song Thrush and Chalkhill blue and Silver-spotted skipper butterflies.
The project, funded by Natural England, will help Plantlife to save lowland Juniper at Lime Kiln Bank at Stockton Down in Wiltshire.
The process will involve habitat enhancement and we will collect, treat and sow locally sourced Juniper seeds. A provision of fencing and water supply infrastructure will also be implemented to facilitate the long-term management of the five-hectare site, which will gradually be restored back to chalk grassland with scattered Juniper.
Pasqueflower becomes more threatened every year and without intervention it may be lost in southern England within decades.
The remaining populations face serious threats from a lack of grazing and scrub encroachment, with more than 99% of Pasqueflowers now restricted to just a few chalk and limestone grasslands and only at a handful of nature reserves.
The project will restore Pasqueflower populations at 10 sites across the Chilterns, Cotswolds, Berkshire Downs and Yorkshire using techniques which have been trialled, tested and proven successful.
Restoring these wildflower’s habitats and creating new ones will also result in many other species being saved.
It will increase the ecological value of the land and be delivered by a team of specialist staff and landowners.
We are also working to protect temperate rainforests in another branch of the Species recovery Project.
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