National Trust to sow UK's largest wildflower grassland in Devon

The largest ever UK wildflower grassland will be sown in north Devon, the National Trust has announced.

The project involves planting across 70 miles of fields in Arlington and Woolacombe by 2030.

It said 1.3 tonnes of seed had already been planted, working towards its target to create 25,000 hectares of priority habitat by 2025.

Project co-ordinator Joshua Day said the donor fields would positively impact the environment.

He said: "The equivalent of 4.5 million acres of species-rich grasslands have been lost nationally over the last 100 years, with only 1% remaining today.

"This has had a devastating impact on our native wildflowers, with once common species such as eyebrights and cowslips becoming ever rarer, and a disastrous impact on the species that are reliant on these flower-rich habitats such as bumblebees and other pollinators."

Mr Day said the lowland grassland creation was a "relatively quick way" to improve habitats and to boost biodiversity.

He said: "For the best chance of success, it's vital to sow the right types of plants in the right places, this will ensure we grow the right complementary wildflowers for the area which will help wildlife that already lives there, as well as attracting new species."

The National Trust said different varieties of seeds, including bird's-foot trefoil and viper's-bugloss, had already been sown and would attract a variety of "important species" such as voles, pollinators and bats.

"We'll leave the grasslands to really establish themselves for a couple of years and harvest the first seed in 2025," Mr Day said.

Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].