Hannah Dalton, Senior Living Landscape Officer at Cheshire Wildlife Trust said: “We are delighted to have been successful securing this funding to support our Pollinating Cheshire project. The funding will help us to work with farmers and landowners, creating beautiful meadows to support a wealth of wildlife across Cheshire”

We live in one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. We’ve lost of 97% of lowland meadows across the UK and 99% in Cheshire. These places once hummed with the buzz of bees, and beautiful butterflies. Funding designated by National Highways aims to help create, restore and connect places for nature to come back and thrive; where the environment has been impacted by activities from previous road building.

Hannah continues: “We are looking forward to making a difference for wildlife by creating new wildflower meadows using seed harvested locally and enhancing existing wildflower meadows, with plug plants grown from hand collected Cheshire seed grown in our wildflower nursery”

Cheshire Wildlife Trust and the Pollinating Cheshire project is one of 51 projects which form the Network for Nature programme.

In England, the roadside estate is vast and yet is adjacent to some of our most precious habitats. When situated alongside linear infrastructure, such as motorways, habitats can create crucial corridors for pollinating insects, birds and small mammals, enabling wildlife to move through the wider landscape.

Nikki Robinson, Nature Recovery Programme Manager for The Wildlife Trusts said:
“We’re very pleased that National Highways is committed to Network for Nature, with a strategic approach to restoring nature and joining up vital places for wildlife to help counter the damaging impacts of previous road building.

“Historic road building programmes have contributed to nature’s decline, fragmenting wild spaces and causing environmental pollution, and this programme will help Wildlife Trusts throughout England carry out important nature conservation work, and contribute to a national Nature Recovery Network, connecting town and countryside, and joining up vital places for wildlife, and promoting landscape scale connectivity.”

Stephen Elderkin, Environmental Sustainability Division lead for National Highways said: “We’re committed to significantly improving biodiversity near our road network, and the projects set out by The Wildlife Trusts will be a vital step in putting the strategic road network at the heart of nature’s recovery.”

Alongside the Network for Nature project, Cheshire Wildlife Trust are running a meadows appeal that the public can support to raise £35,000 towards wider meadow restoration work across the county

Hannah Dalton adds: “The appeal is a great opportunity for the general public to be part of restoring wildflower meadows and bringing wildlife back. By donating you’re investing in a healthier future for Cheshire’s people and wildlife. Every contribution, big or small, helps turn the tide.”