More than 125,000 wildflowers sown in two years

More than 125,000 wildflowers were planted and 159 acres (64 hectares) of grasslands have been restored in two years, a wildlife trust has said.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust said more than 1,000 volunteers had "tirelessly worked" on several projects across the region from April 2023 to March 2025.

Wildflower seeds were sown in places including road verges, farmlands, burial grounds and cycle routes in areas including Eden, the Lake District and South Cumbria.

The trust said Cumbria had seen "a real boost in the number of plants for our pollinating insects" with more funding enabling several projects to continue.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust said since the 1940s, the UK had lost 97% of flower rich meadows, 50% of hedgerows and 60% of flowering plants, with the declines "mirrored in Cumbria".

The trust's grassland and pollinator manager Tanya St. Pierre said "by reinstating these flower-rich habitats in our landscape, we're helping to restore the variety and wealth of pollinating insects".

Most of the wildflowers were grown from seed at the trust's nursery at Gosling Sike, in Houghton, near Carlisle.

At Cold Springs and Thacka Beck nature reserves near Penrith, volunteers worked to restore 51 acres (21 hectares) of wildflower habitat.

A total of 8,000 wildflower plugs were planted, along with wildflower seeds at four community sites in Eden.

Meanwhile across the Lake District, the trust said 71 acres (29 hectares) of grassland was transformed.

In South Cumbria, eight acres (three hectares) of hay meadows were reinstated and 16,000 plants were put in at sites around Kendal and Milnthorpe.

The trust was granted funding from authorities including National Highways, Westmorland and Furness Council and Natural England.

It also received funding from Lakeland Ltd, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arnside and Silverdale Farming in Protected Landscapes, North Pennines Farming in Protected Landscapes and Fibrus.

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