The Grasslands Trust

About the charity

Have you ever frolicked in a hay meadow, had a grass fight or strolled through tall fragrant flowers in a beautiful wild meadow, wiling away the hours, hand in hand with your lover? Perhaps not, but you should...it's wonderful, just ask your grandparents!  "Where can I find a meadow these days?" you may ask.  Well thanks to the lovely folk at The Grasslands Trust these essential habitats are being protected.  In fact we are the UK's only national charity that concentrates all its efforts on protecting our enchanting wildlife-rich grasslands and flowery meadows.

So, if you'd like to roll in a meadow one day why not watch our short film and find out how you can play a part in conserving, protecting and nurturing wild meadows all over the UK.

If you’d like to know a bit more about us - we are proud to say we’ve been hard at work for eight years; advising farmers and landowners, saving and restoring threatened sites, generating support and educating the public about the issues grasslands face.  We’ve also purchased several sites which were under threat from development and intensive farming. 

We’ve been rather successful, so we now offer comprehensive volunteer programmes and public events at our reserves in Carmel - Wales, Hocombe Mead in Hampshire and parts of the North East of England.

You are probably wondering why meadows and grasslands are such important habitats and why they are disappearing….well, modern farming favours grasslands with just one or two grass species and this is unable to support many birds, animals or insects. Whereas our ancient wildlife-rich grasslands have one hundred or more species of flowers. And when the flowers are in bloom the meadow is full of life - the bees are also buzzing, butterflies are fluttering, grasshoppers are jumping and skylarks are singing. Grasslands help us in so many ways - they provide dynamic carbon storage through their rich peaty soils and they are important players in maintaining our flood defences as they soak up and store rain water.

Intensive farming involves the use of pesticides and fertilisers which kills off the meadow flowers and grasses so the wildlife which once depended on these plants then struggles to find food and a place to sleep, many species now face the threat of extinction.  Sometimes unmanaged meadows become overgrown and lost due to neglect.

As our human population grows, so does our demand for food and housing, which places further threats on greenfield sites, which are predominantly grasslands areas.  In the last seventeen years an area of grassland the size of Bedfordshire has been lost. 

Our work isn’t just about wildlife but people as well. Wildflower-rich grasslands are incredibly important for our health and well-being.  We want to increase our work in the communities surrounding our reserves and make meadows accessible for you, your family and friends.  So we hope you can dig deep into your pocket and help us help the meadows, now and for the future.