Meadow Match

Share Meadow Match on Facebook Share Meadow Match on Twitter Share Meadow Match on Linkedin Email Meadow Match link

Meadow Match

A team of innovators have received Farming in Protected Landscape (FiPL) funding to create wildflower-rich habitats across Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly. These wildflower meadows will help fight the climate and ecological emergency, whilst exploring profitable ways for farmers to manage their land.

Why are meadows so important?

Wildflower meadows are essential to help nature thrive and to fight against climate change. Incredibly, meadows can harbour more plant species than tropical rainforests over smaller areas and they also capture and store carbon.

Species-rich and diverse meadows are an essential part of our farmed landscape, providing pasture for hay, silage and grazing for healthy livestock and nutrient-rich beef, lamb and dairy.

However, in the UK we have lost 97% of our wildflower meadows in living memory. This change has led to declines in farmland birds and pollinators like butterflies and bees.


What are we doing to help?

Meadow Match is a novel wildflower meadow ‘dating agency’, created by Dr Grace Twiston-Davies from the Wildflower Collective and University of Exeter. It aims to locate and enhance existing wildflower meadows across Cornwall, and then look for ways to create more.

The project aims to create 90 ha of wildflower-rich habitat over the next 2 years, helping to create areas for nature which are bigger, better and more joined up. It will do this by:

  • Creating 30 ha of new species-rich grassland with locally sourced seed this year (2023)
  • Identifying and matchmaking another 60 ha for next year (2024)

How does Meadow Match work?

The core of the project is the innovative Meadow Match database and state of the art ‘Meadow Hub’, as well as our novel ‘mix and match’ approach.

The Meadow Match database is a 'dating agency' for wildflower meadows, match-making 'donor' and 'receptor' sites of local wildflower seed and hay. The idea started as a University of Exeter project and is now a not-for-profit organisation that has created 58 ha of wildflower rich habitat across Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly.

The state of the art ‘Meadow Hub’ at Rosuick Organic farm on the Lizard Peninsula cleans, sorts and stores locally grown wildflower seed. They also share equipment and expertise with other meadow makers across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.


Meadow Match

A team of innovators have received Farming in Protected Landscape (FiPL) funding to create wildflower-rich habitats across Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly. These wildflower meadows will help fight the climate and ecological emergency, whilst exploring profitable ways for farmers to manage their land.

Why are meadows so important?

Wildflower meadows are essential to help nature thrive and to fight against climate change. Incredibly, meadows can harbour more plant species than tropical rainforests over smaller areas and they also capture and store carbon.

Species-rich and diverse meadows are an essential part of our farmed landscape, providing pasture for hay, silage and grazing for healthy livestock and nutrient-rich beef, lamb and dairy.

However, in the UK we have lost 97% of our wildflower meadows in living memory. This change has led to declines in farmland birds and pollinators like butterflies and bees.


What are we doing to help?

Meadow Match is a novel wildflower meadow ‘dating agency’, created by Dr Grace Twiston-Davies from the Wildflower Collective and University of Exeter. It aims to locate and enhance existing wildflower meadows across Cornwall, and then look for ways to create more.

The project aims to create 90 ha of wildflower-rich habitat over the next 2 years, helping to create areas for nature which are bigger, better and more joined up. It will do this by:

  • Creating 30 ha of new species-rich grassland with locally sourced seed this year (2023)
  • Identifying and matchmaking another 60 ha for next year (2024)

How does Meadow Match work?

The core of the project is the innovative Meadow Match database and state of the art ‘Meadow Hub’, as well as our novel ‘mix and match’ approach.

The Meadow Match database is a 'dating agency' for wildflower meadows, match-making 'donor' and 'receptor' sites of local wildflower seed and hay. The idea started as a University of Exeter project and is now a not-for-profit organisation that has created 58 ha of wildflower rich habitat across Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly.

The state of the art ‘Meadow Hub’ at Rosuick Organic farm on the Lizard Peninsula cleans, sorts and stores locally grown wildflower seed. They also share equipment and expertise with other meadow makers across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.


Page last updated: 23 Aug 2023, 02:54 PM