Marbled white butterfly on a common spotted orchid in a wildflower meadow © Tom Marshall
Warwickshire Meadows Hub
Established in Spring 2025, Warwickshire Meadows Hub is a partnership created to bring together everyone who’s interested in species-rich meadows. It exists to coordinate and support in the high-quality restoration, management, and long-term resilience of species-rich grasslands across Warwickshire.
Our aim is to create a space for meadow owners to come together, share knowledge, best practice and resources. Warwickshire Meadows Hub members will receive invites to events and training around the topic of species-rich grasslands and will be able to access advice and guidance on species-rich grassland management and restoration from local experts.
If you are interested in becoming a member of Warwickshire Meadows Hub where you will receive updates and hear about upcoming events, you can let us know by filling out our Google form.
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust’s Farm and Wildlife Advice team is always on hand to assist any meadow owners with advice and resources for restoring and monitoring meadows. Initial advice visits are always free of charge and will be followed up with a free summary report. Contact land.advice@wkwt.org.uk to get in touch with the team.
More about meadows
Why Meadows?
Meadow brown on tufted vetch by Andy Brough
Meadows are vital habitats, hosting diverse communities of grasses, sedges and herbs, and they play a role in supporting lots of different wildlife - from the bees that forage on the flowers, to the barn owls that hunt in the long grasses.
The majority of meadows occur within agricultural landscapes, forming part of a livestock grazing system. Traditionally, livestock graze the field from autumn until spring and then are moved off the field over the summer growing season. This gives the plants time to recover and grow before the field undergoes a hay cut in late summer, where cuttings are removed and stored to feed to the animals when grass is scarce. The removal of material creates the perfect habitat for native meadow species - which prefer nutrient-poor soils - as the cuttings can’t decompose and add nutrients to the site.
Many of our traditional meadows have lost their diversity, and therefore their wildlife value. During the 20th century, 90% of lowland grasslands were lost. This has come as a result of chemical fertilisers and herbicide applications, the development of more productive grass varieties, and overgrazing, all of which have become common practise in today’s agriculture. We are working to bring Warwickshire’s meadows back and keep them thriving.
Making More Magical Meadows
In 2021, in collaboration with Severn Trent, we began working with Warwickshire’s Sustainable Farming Groups to restore and create grassland habitats as part of our ‘Making More Magical Meadows’ project. To date, we’ve worked with 27 different landowners to restore over 88 hectares of meadows across Warwickshire – that’s around 125 football pitches!
The funding period for this project came to an end in 2024 so to keep each meadow thriving, we will be monitoring them annually by surveying their plant communities. The types of plants we find - and the diversity of plant species - give us an idea of the types of wildlife a meadow can support and helps us to understand the best management techniques for each site. We use this information to support each landowner to maintain their meadows going forward.
