Grasslands are really important places for wildlife, and conservation grazing is the best way to ensure they thrive. We need support for the core costs of managing 735 traditional breed cows and sheep across some of Essex’s most important grassland reserves, to make sure they buzz with wildlife.
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UK grassland nature conservation is in crisis. Healthy grasslands are a carbon-storing, climate-cooling, water-sponging, wildlife-rich life force, yet too often they’re undervalued, overlooked and ultimately lost. In Essex we’ve lost vast areas of species-rich, long-established grassland - habitats for important species not found elsewhere. Many remaining are nature-depleted because of intensive use, rather than traditional management, or have been left to dry out, leaving habitats vulnerable.
We manage some of the UK’s most important grasslands, from expansive marshes to flower-rich meadows. Conservation grazing is the best way to ensure grassland wildlife recovers. It echoes low-intensity farming practices and the role once played by wild roaming herbivores on our landscape. With rising costs, we need help to grow and support our herd of traditional breed cows & sheep and to purchase equipment to develop our conservation grazing, promoting healthy grasslands and nature’s recovery.
