Of all the beautiful sights and sounds of nature, the colour and crescendo of a wild-flower meadow is hard to beat. Some would argue there is nothing more relaxing and restorative than walking or picnicking among the eclectic blooms and bird song that abound on a bright summer’s day. More’s the pity then, that as of today, only 2% of the meadows and species-rich grasslands that existed in the 1930’s remain. What is left covers just a minute fraction of the area that was once covered, and this equates to a loss of nearly 7.5 million acres. Six million of these acres were ploughed to grow cereals during the Second World War, and in the 40 years that followed, lowland meadows had declined by a tragic 97%. The problem here lies to a large extent in the subsequent loss of wildflowers, fungi, bees, flies, insects, butterflies, small mammals and birds, not to mention the reduction in carbon storage, and the increase in water retention and flooding risk. The campaign to Save Our Magnificent Meadows has helped to address some of the lack of public awareness about this issue, and on National Meadows Day, it’s a plight that is deservedly being brought to the fore of social media and headlines! For more details click here.