AN internationally-important wildflower meadow will benefit from a £712,700 funding boost from Defra.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s newest nature reserve, Bowber Head Farm, is in line for a share of the the grant from the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund.

The grant has been awarded to wildflower conservation society Plantlife, for its nationwide Meadow Makers project. The Trust will lead the Meadow Makers project in Cumbria and restore 50 hectares of meadows at locations across the county, including at Bowber Head Farm.

Stephen Trotter, CEO of Cumbria Wildlife Trust says: “We’re absolutely delighted to receive a grant from the Green Recovery Challenge Fund and look forward to working with Plantlife and our local partners to restore meadows across Cumbria. At Bowber Head Farm, the grant will help us get started on the long process of revitalising these hugely important hay meadows and planning their long-term management. This funding will enable us to employ a project officer there for 13 months, and a trainee for six months, which is very exciting.”

Bowber Head Farm lies between Kirkby Stephen and Sedbergh and is renowned for its flower-rich hay meadows, which cover some 12ha or 30 acres. The meadows contain exceptionally rare flowers, such as wood crane’s-bill, melancholy thistle, great burnet, saw-wort and lady’s mantles, which are only found in Northern England and parts of Scotland. The Trust is working with local farmers to bring the meadows back to top condition for wildlife, following a decline in the quality of the grasslands over the last 20 years.

Stephen explains why restoring these hay meadows matters: “It’s no exaggeration to say these types of meadow are the most vulnerable of all habitats in our county. Even small changes in management can result in species being lost. They’re now genuinely rare in Cumbria and the North of England, with the vast majority having disappeared over the last 100 years. Northern hay meadows like these are important for the plants they support.”