In 2025 several of our native meadow flowers were identified as ‘vulnerable to extinction’ due to their catastrophic declines in the UK countryside. With your help we want to protect against their extinction in Herefordshire by reintroducing them to carefully selected and managed receptor sites.
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Beneficiaries
Betony, Common milkwort, and Devil’s bit scabious were once widespread in the UK, but have become rarities due to changes in land management over recent decades. As of 2025 they are now amongst 434 vascular plants identified as under threat of extinction in the BSBI Red List for Great Britain. We urgently need your help to reinforce these species’ populations in Herefordshire, but our usual method of spreading brush-harvested seed is not suitable for these rarities.
We will reintroduce these vulnerable native species to areas where they have been lost, working with a specialist local wildflower nursery to grow plugs for planting onto carefully selected receptor sites. To ensure the reintroductions have the best chance of success we will work closely with landowners to ensure suitable ongoing management, and with the help of volunteers we will monitor natural spread and colonisation by the species over future years.
