National Meadows Day - 4th July

#NationalMeadowsDay

 

The first Saturday in July is National Meadows Day - that's the 4th July in 2026.

Meadows matter.   They give sanctuary for wildlife and they lock up carbon.   And who doesn't love the sight of a meadow with wild flowers in it? 

So it is a very sad thought that 97% of British wildflower meadows have been eradicated since 1945.  They've been ploughed over, over-fertilised and destroyed for our building purposes.   This has terrible consequences for our bees and butterflies.  Nearly 1,400 species of insects rely on meadow plants to survive.   You can find out why meadows are national treasures here. 

National Meadows Day gives us all the chance to discover more about our meadows and grasslands and discover what we can do to help them.  Plantlife expalin that the UK Government has revised a farming policy to remove the payment for managing and restoring species-rich grassland.  It wants the Government to revisit the decision and help farmers manage meadows and other species-rich grasslands.  

In Scotland, the government has been developing a payment scheme for farmers but most of the funding is likely to go to farmers based on the size of the farm, rather than paying for farming which helps nature and society.  Plantlife wants the Scottish Government to replace irreplaceable meadows by funding more nature-friendly farming and ensuring farmers and crofters are supported to manage or restore species-rich meadows and grasslands.

In Wales, some of the new payment scheme will pay farmers for basic actions that provide wider benefits to nature and people.  More ambitious elements are being designed.  Please contact your MS to ask them to speak up for local communities and farmers caring for meadows and wildlife-rich grasslands in Wales.

 Please ask your MP, MSP or MS to protect irreplaceable meadows and support those who care for them.

Plantlife is asking us all to please help meadows with one action

Plantlife is asking us all to do one or two things for National Meadows Day:

  • Share a meadow story.   Tell your friends why meadows matter.  Why not share a video or picture of your favourite meadow and tell people about it?  Use the hashtag #NationalMeadowsDay and tag! (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and Bluesky).
  • Write to your local politician.   Ask them to support farmers and communities who care for wildflower-rich meadows. Plantlife has templates here.

You could also:


Unwind in meadows!

Please give meadows your support.   They need our help!

You could also look at the transformation a wildlife meadow makes in a year - all in 2 minutes!

Joel Ashton explains how to make your own mini-meadow at home.  Plantlife have some lovely wildflower seeds you can buy online - a great way to give your support!