Make More Meadows campaign hits £10,000

The current funding will support eight new sites, covering a total of 52 hectares. These meadows offer ‘stepping stones’ for wildlife, enabling insects and plants to move across a wider area so that their species can thrive and be sustained.

One species that stands to benefit from such ‘stepping stones’ is the marsh fritillary butterfly, dependent on marshy grassland habitats that have declined dramatically in recent decades. They don’t usually fly very far, and tend to go only as far as the adjacent field. In good years when the population booms, some individuals manage to get further afield. However, it’s very much a cycle of boom and bust for the marsh fritillary, thanks to an even rarer parasitic wasp that can decimate populations. It is therefore vital that there are suitable ‘stepping stones’ nearby for them to spread.

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Trust Chair Elsa Davies said: “One of the best things about supporting meadows is that once established, they can be managed with minimum intervention and cost. However there is always more that can be done.

“The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Trust intends to continue fundraising for the Make More Meadows campaign so that we can maintain existing meadows, restore those that have been neglected and work with landowners to create new meadows throughout the National Park.

“We very much look forward to the time when work can begin again on maintaining our meadows, as work has been paused in recent months due to the Coronavirus situation.”

If you would like to support our Make More Meadows campaign and become a force for nature please donate by texting MOREMEADOWS to 70085. Texts cost £5 plus one message at your standard rate. Donations can also be made online by visiting https://pembrokeshirecoasttrust.wales/how-you-can-help/make-more-meadows/