Wildlife charity Buglife has recently completed a project to create new wildflower areas in and around Richmond.
Nearly five hectares of wildflower-rich habitat have been created across ten sites in the county, including at Lady Serena Park and Richmond School in Richmond, as well as at Kiplin Hall and Hipswell Cemetery.
The Coast to Coast B-Line project worked with established local community and volunteer groups to deliver the work, thanks to funding from Natural England as part of the Coast to Coast Path National Trail’s wider benefits programme.
This included using locally collected and commercial wildflower seed and plug plants to help revive grasslands that offer little for pollinators, creating bee hotels, planting orchard trees and celebrating pollinators- with local events such as hands-on craft, cake decorating and family bug hunts.
The Coast to Coast B-Line project is part of the national B-Lines programme- a network of flower-rich insect superhighways across the UK working to restore pollinator populations.
They are designed to reconnect landscapes, enabling pollinators and other wildlife to move freely, supporting nature’s recovery.
Rachel Richards, Buglife B-Lines Officer, said: “It’s more important than ever that we take steps to help our struggling pollinators.
“Simply bringing more flowers to our towns and countryside to fill B-Lines is a vital step to helping restore populations of some of our most cherished wildlife.
“Thanks to Natural England and local volunteer groups, we’re showing what can be done.”
This isn’t the first B-Lines project in the local area.
This recent funding builds on wildflower grassland creation and restoration work undertaken with the National Trust and Richmondshire Landscape Trust in 2013 and 2014 as part of the Restoring Richmond’s Lost Meadows project.
Over a decade since work began to restore 20ha of wildflower-rich grasslands and pasture, the habitat at sites such as the National Trust’s popular Round Howe and Hudswell Woods site, is alive with nature, scheme leaders say.
Seb Mankelow, National Trust ranger, said: “Last year was our tenth winter of grazing the riverside at Round Howe.
“The cattle have transformed the grassland for the better, there are many more wildflowers and species that were on the brink of being lost are now thriving. It’s an important habitat where people can experience the joys of nature on the doorstep of Richmond.”
For more information on the scheme visit https://www.buglife.org.uk/our-work/b-lines/.
