The Magical Meadows Initiative has been launched by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust in an attempt to help save the county's vanishing meadows .
The Trust is hoping to raise £76,000 to support the scheme, which aims to save wildlife rich meadows outside of nature reserves and other protected areas in Norfolk that are in serious risk of disappearing over the next ten years.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust began the Magical Meadows Initiative earlier this year, with the aim of finding where flower rich meadows occur in Norfolk, assessing their interest for wildlife and raising money to fund any urgent work needed to save the meadows .
As traditional management such as grazing and hay cutting have started to decline, many small, flower-rich meadows are being neglected.
Only six out of the 36 sites visited across Norfolk were in a good condition, while seven had been destroyed or lost completely.
The Trust added that the remaining 23 sites require significant changes to management to ensure that they will remain as grassland sites for the next 10 years.
"Meadows are wonderful places for wildlife - the open, sunny habitat supports a myriad of wild flowers that are icons of the English countryside - like cowslips and orchids," commented Brendan Joyce, director of Norfolk Wildlife Trust.
"These in turn support abundant insect life, small mammals and many birds, including many of those now in decline in the UK, such as skylarks."
"These habitats have been with us for thousands of years and were once crucial to the rural economy, yet they are fragile and vulnerable to neglect - rapidly vanishing under scrub if neglected and often turned into regularly cut amenity areas or gardens ."
Joyce added: "We are asking people to donate whatever they can afford to this Appeal, no matter how small."
"With their support we will continue to work tirelessly to safeguard the natural heritage of our beautiful county."
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Norfolk's Flower Rich Meadows Becoming Extinct
Thu, 13 Sep 2007
Recommended linksYour one stop shop for ordering and sending flowers and giftsSearch for florists in Norfolk Comprehensive flower directory Find out about wild flower meadows Wildflowers At Risk In Norfolk Competition Launched To Help Find Lost Flower
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