In 2024, Herefordshire Meadows supported the creation and restoration of over 20ha of lowland meadow and floodplain meadow across the Wye catchment in Herefordshire through their ‘Rooting for Better Water Quality Project’.
Species rich grasslands are known to improve water quality and regulate water quantity due to the ability of the deep-rooted (see infographic below) broad-leaved herbs to improve soil structure, reduce compaction and increase soil organic matter. This enhances the soil’s ability to absorb water and then release it slowly when required, making the land more resilient to both drought and heavy rainfall. Additionally, these habitats can be effective carbon sinks. The plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester and store it at depth as soil organic carbon, thereby helping to tackle the climate crisis.
Species rich grasslands are also some of our most biodiverse habitats we have in this country, with over 700 different species of flower and grass having been recorded in British meadows. This botanical diversity supports over 1,400 species of invertebrate which in turn support a wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians (Source: Plantlife; The Good Meadow Guide).
A total of 10 farmers and landowners were supported through this project. As well as being provided with funds to carry out the habitat creation works, they were offered plant ID training and encouraged to all carry out their own botanical baseline surveys. A shift to this low input farming approach also helps support financial resilience and profitability in the long term.
Efforts were made to engage with the wider public wherever possible with 75 volunteers being involved across the lifespan of the project. The highlight was two fantastic community seeding events, one involving members of the Almeley Green Group and one with members of the Croft Ambrey Running Club.
Herefordshire Meadows is grateful for the support of the Environment Agency and their Water Environment Improvement Fund for making this work possible. We are looking forward to seeing all the meadows develop over the coming years.
If you would like to find out more about the wider work Herefordshire Meadows gets up to, including reading about all their other projects which, combined, have delivered over 400ha of species rich grassland creation across the county, please visit their website at https://www.herefordshiremeadows.org.uk where you can also sign up to their mailing list to start receiving their monthly newsletter.
