3. Increasing wildflower meadows
Why?
As a result of farmers switching away from traditional haymaking practices to silage we have lost much of our wildflower populations. Haymaking involves cutting grass and associated wildflowers once per year in July. It allows spring and early summer wildflowers to grow, flower and set seed before the crop is removed. For silage, farmers cut grass early before wildflowers have a chance to blossom, often re-seed their meadows with a single species of grass, such as perennial rye grass, and use artificial fertilisers to encourage growth. A second or even third crop can then be taken.
This method of agriculture is not wildlife friendly. It destroys habitat for ground nesting birds, such as the curlew, and reduces populations of pollinating insects, such as bees, moths, hoverflies and butterflies that depend on the nectar and pollen that wildflowers provide.
How?
In the countryside, farmers and landowners can take advantage of Government agri-environment schemes to move to pollinator friendly farming practices see here. Advice is available from Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) - In the village landowners canadopt wildflower friendly land management practices of their green spaces taking advice from YDMT or the Environment Group (
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) - Bradford Council, the Parish Council, InCommunities, Addingham Primary School, and the Methodist Church are working together with the Environment Group to create and maintain several mini-meadows in the village
- St Peter’s Church and the Environment Group are in discussion about the timing and extent of cutting the Church Field meadow taking account of the use of the field for Church events
- The CAA working group is putting together a proposal for consideration by the Parish Council for the design and management of Hoffman Wood Field and other Council land to create more extensive wildflower-rich amenity grassland
- Gardeners are being encouraged to leave all or some of their lawns uncut between May and August to allow wildflowers to grow, flower and set seed: https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/
