Yare Valley Meadow Makers making a difference

The Yare Valley Meadow Makers have installed a new information and noticeboard on the University of East Anglia meadows that will allow visitors to learn about the new biodiversity-friendly management, and the wildlife they might encounter.

Entering the UEA campus from Bluebell Road (on the footpath opposite North Park Avenue) visitors will now see a board, which includes pictures of the yellow rattle and common insects that can be found in the meadows.

The work on the UEA meadows has been a great example of a partnership between the different groups involved. On the noticeboard, UEA and these local groups will advertise their conservation work and opportunities to get involved.

SIGN OF THE TIMES: The YVMM, CAWS and UEA present the new sign. Left to right: Lachlan Royle (CAWS), Corinna Ivirashworth (YVMM), Chris Stevens (YVMM), Matt Tomlinson (YVMM, Chair), Pip Pyper (YVMM), Tom Everett (UEA Landscape Manager), Niel Gosling (UEA Grounds Manager), Nadia El-fakhri (UEA Biodiversity Co-ordinator), Chris Stebbing (YVMM).

Wanting to make a difference in the local area and inspired by Plantlife’s “No Mow May” campaign, Dr Matt Tomlinson started The Yare Valley Meadow Makers as a lockdown project to turn the grass field into a valuable wildflower meadow, which now has over 90 plant species recorded.

Boosted by the success, he reached out to UEA’s landscape management team to grow the green corridor along the Yare valley, which connects meadows at the NNUH hospital and Norwich Research Park with local parks and nature reserves like the Marston marsh.

Matt, a John Innes Centre scientist, UEA Alumni and chair of the group said: “The cherry on the cake is now the new sign and noticeboard, thanks to a Love Norwich grant, which will act to put the meadow makers on the map and as a hub for all the local conservation groups to foster more community engagement with the campus and its wildlife.”

The group is open to anyone interested in enhancing and protecting biodiversity in the meadows along the Yare Valley.

Due to land use and management changes, here in the UK, around 97 per cent of  wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s.

Wildflower meadows can support up to 1,400 insect species, including pollinators, and provide a home for many reptiles, mammals, bats, and birds. A simple change in management, such as less frequent mowing, can bring back species and additionally increase resilience to climate change, particularly frequent droughts.

BARE NECESSITY: Yare Valley Meadow Makers volunteers creating bare earth patches to sow wildflower seeds. Photos: YVMM.

Orchids, like the pyramidal orchid and bee orchid can be found on the meadows. Yellow rattle is a semi-parasite to grasses and reduces grass growth by up to 50 per cent and has been introduced by YVMM to give space to more wildflowers.

Prior to the construction of UEA in the 60s, the campus was Earlham golf course and many of its features can still be seen today.

Over the past two years, YVMM have been working closely with Aaron Brown of Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT), UEA student Conservation and Wildlife Society (CAWS) and UEA estates to transform these meadows. The work on the meadows this year is being complemented by the new UEA pollinator push initiative, being driven by UEA estates, on the campus lawns where additional selected areas are cut less or even just once a year to promote wildflowers. Visit the YVMM Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/YareValleyMeadowMakers), Instagram (@yarevalleymeadowmakers) and via email. Matt Tomlinson can be contacted via email at yarevalleymeadowmakers@gmail.com