Your questions answered about our Wildflowers, Wetlands and Wildlife project

Your questions answered

• Why should I care about Wildflowers, Wetlands and Wildlife?

   Habitats in the UK are under immense pressure. The UK has lost 97% of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s, and it’s estimated that up to 90% of the UK’s lowland ponds were lost during the 20th century. These precious habitats support lots of biodiversity, so when the habitat is lost so too are the species that live within it. A whole range of species live in and between these habitats, from mammals such as Red squirrels and Otters, to birds like Curlews and Snipe, and invertebrates including bees, butterflies, moths, earthworms, beetles, and spiders. Many of these invertebrates are pollinators, and supporting our pollinator populations is vital for our future food security. By restoring degraded landscapes and creating a mosaic of resilient, healthy habitats we can provide a home for these species, enriching our environment.

  As well as the benefits for biodiversity, these habitats also contribute towards our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, keeping carbon locked away in the plants and especially the soil.

• How does this contribute to solving the climate and ecological crises?

  This work constitutes several different climate solutions: grassland protection, forest protection, and peatland protection and rewetting. 

  Newly created wildflower meadows on what used to be arable land can capture 1.04-1.89tC captured/ha/year, rising to 3.17tC if a red clover-rich mix is used. Marshy grassland and semi-improved grassland have been noted as having between 60-76tC stored in soils/ha. Enhancing such habitats and maintaining them in a good condition will maintain this level of carbon in their soils, and hopefully allow an increase in carbon storage to take place. It’s projected that increasing protection of intact grasslands to 369.31–403.18 million hectares could avoid CO2e emissions totalling 3.35–4.25 gigatons by 2050, securing an estimated protected stock of 34–37 gigatons of carbon, roughly equivalent to more than 124–136 gigatons of carbon dioxide if released into the atmosphere.

  Healthy forests store carbon in the biomass of plants and in the soil. Protecting an additional 335–466 million hectares of forest could help us avoid 5.55–8.83 gigatons of CO2e emissions by 2050. Not only that, but protecting forests prevents the carbon locked away in these ecosystems from being released into the atmosphere. If we’re able to protect a total of around 1 billion hectares of forest, that would store approximately 79–203 gigatons of carbon, roughly equivalent to more than 655–743 gigatons of carbon dioxide if released into the atmosphere.

  Protecting and rewetting peatland has incredible potential for helping us limit greenhouse gas emissions. If we increase the total area of protected and rewetted peatlands from 8.84 million hectares to 302.69–491.21 million hectares, we can avoid 25.40–40.27 gigatons of CO2e emissions.

  Each of these habitats brings unique benefits for the wildlife that call these places home. This project is designed to maximise biodiversity and support vulnerable and threatened species of plants and animals, such as Common rock-rose, Sticky catchfly, Red squirrels, Great crested newts, and Snipe.

• How will the sites be looked after long-term?

  Every site will have a tailored management plan to suit the site’s characteristics. The management of each site will be tailored to the habitats, species, ground conditions, climate, and specific pressures in an area.

  Wildflower meadows will require annual management. They will receive a hay cut at the end of each summer, with the hay removed from the area to prevent the soil from becoming too nutrient-rich (which isn’t good for maintaining the desired plant diversity). Livestock may be grazed on site if this is needed to keep the vegetation down prior to the spring growth season. This is typical of traditional meadow management. 

  In marshy grassland areas, low intensity conservation grazing, often with local cattle, may be used with an occasional cut, if required. This will prevent the build-up of thatch from dead rushes and allow more fragile wildflowers to thrive  and set seed. It also provides opportunities to support local farmers.  But where very wet, the land may simply be left alone with scrub control carried out when required.

• How is the restoration plan for each site decided upon?

  Surveying the natural habitats and species that already exist there indicates where the ‘right place’ is to carry out each type of habitat restoration and conservation work. Recognised, best-practice methods will be used to measure then monitor this biodiversity work. These methods are recognised by government agencies, such as NatureScot and DEFRA, as well as NGOs, like the Bat Conservation Trust and RSPB. Experienced and highly respected ecologists will carry out this monitoring work. Habitat condition monitoring work will be carried out using published methods by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and DEFRA.

• How are the wildflowers planted (e.g. sowing vs. plugs)?

  The wildflower meadow creation is done by sowing seeds over the ground, occasionally planting them directly in the ground. A low intensive method is used that aims to avoid machine ploughing the soil. The native yellow rattle is sown, often by hand, into appropriate areas in order to reduce the dominance of existing grasses and allow other wildflowers to become established.

  The wildflower regeneration is done by planting plugs which have been nursery-grown on peat-free compost using native wildflower seeds. The plug plants will come in plant trays (which are then returned to the nursery for re-use) and will be planted in small groups, sometimes protected (from being eaten by roe deer) by guards in their first year to allow them a better chance to become established. 

  We call these low-key methods the ‘inoculation’ of a grassland with wildflowers, with the wildflowers then spreading across the grassland with sensitive management. It means we can protect the soils at the same time.

• What is the survival rate for wildflowers?

  Survival rate will vary from site to site, year to year and even species to species within a site with wildflower meadow creation and enhancement, and requires adapting management to suit a site and its characteristics. It can take a few years to achieve initial aims, with ups and downs on the journey.The cost of managing the site for 5 years after initial sowing/planting, to maximise survival rate, has been factored into the price of the setting up the projects.

  Where plugs are used, the plants come with good root structures so have a better chance to compete with surrounding vegetation. Weather and management plays a big role in the survival rate of plants in this type of habitat, so the expected survival rate for plugs in this environment will vary and could be anything from 10-90%. This is why monitoring and adaptive management is key to the success of wildflower creation and enhancement projects. This expected survival rate is taken into consideration when planting takes place to ensure the survival of the optimum number of plants.

  To help our rarest plant species reintroductions to survive, wire guards may be used to protect plug plants until they become better established to prevent them from being eaten by roe deer and rabbits.

• What species of wildflowers will be planted?

  All species are native to Scotland and the UK and supplied by Scotia Seeds. The origin of all seed is known and most seed used in Scotland will be from Scottish seed sources and quality tested beforehand (Scotia Seeds are one of the few companies who test their wildflower seed before sale). Seed sources will be obtained from the closest suitable location, including the receptor sites themselves on occasion, where appropriate, e.g. Sticky catchfly.

  The plants for these projects are mainly perennials with a track record of growing well in more fertile soils, which many fields currently are after years of fertiliser inputs, the main exception being yellow rattle in the wildflower meadows, which returns every year if cut after it sets seed.

  For all the wildflower meadow projects, the species will include grass species such as sweet vernal-grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum) and red fescue (Festuca rubra), as well as wildflowers such as selfheal (Prunella vulgaris), lady’s bedstraw (Galium verum), meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris) yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor), red clover (Trifolium pratense), greater bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus pedunculatus), and common knapweed (Centaurea nigra), amongst others.

  For the wetland wildflower enhancement  sites the species that will be planted will include devil’s-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis), wild angelica (Angelica sylvestris), meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), ragged robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi), sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica), and common valerian (Valeriana officilanis).

• How many species are spread in a given area?

  For the wildflower meadows, up to 20 species of wildflower and fine grass species would likely be sown in patches over a 100m by 100m area (1 hectare) initially, with the seeds mixed together beforehand to allow an even spread of species

  For the wildflower enhancement sites up to 7 species will be planted over a wide area initially, with more species introduced after the first two years. This type of planting is designed to reinforce existing wild plant populations. It is expected that the sensitive meadow management will allow the natural recolonisation of wildflower species to the sites too, such as common-spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) and meadow vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis).

• How are invasive species prevented from taking over the site?

  Regular monitoring and careful annual management will significantly reduce the risk of invasive species taking over the habitats. Weeding will take place if necessary, but should not be an issue if the site is properly managed. Part of the management plans for protecting ancient woodland, for example, is the removal of invasive Rhododendron.

• Is this considered ‘rewilding’?

  No. Wildflower meadows are commonly anthropogenic habitats; their continued existence is closely aligned to traditional agricultural management. In many ways, they are an example of what happens when people are in balance with nature.  There are many ecological benefits to maintaining this kind of habitat, however, since most definitions of rewilding refer to the process of allowing nature to take over, these projects cannot be considered to be rewilding projects because the habitats need intervention from humans to enhance the existing habitats and maintain them to bring the maximum benefits for wildlife and the climate.

• Will there be regular biodiversity studies carried out?

  There will be annual surveys carried out to determine the number and abundance of plant species present in the habitats, along with transects counting the number and species of butterfly and bumblebee present. Further surveys, for example looking at bat use above such habitat, will be carried out at less frequent intervals. The sites will be open for students to use them for educational purposes too, including survey work.

  Recognised, best-practice methods will be used to measure and monitor  this biodiversity work. These methods are recognised by government agencies, such as NatureScot and DEFRA, as well as NGOs, like the Bat Conservation Trust and RSPB. Experienced and highly respected ecologists will carry out this monitoring work.

• Are fertilisers or pesticides being used?

  No. The only potential exception would be where careful spot control of invasive weed species is deemed necessary, but this would be seen as a last resort.