Wildflowers Countryfile

Wild flowers native to the UK have endured a steep decline over

the last 70 years and that means not only the loss of the flowers

themselves, but also habitats for animals and insects.

In England alone, we've lost an astonishing

three million acres of wild flower meadows,

taking some colour from our landscape and upsetting

a food chain that supports a huge variety of plants and animals.

And it's not just the amount of farmland that's had an impact -

it's the way we farm too.

Here at the Millennium Seed Bank, it's Ted Chapman's job

to preserve the wild flowers we have for the future.

This is a wet meadow or fen,

-looking pretty glorious at this time of year.

-Looks lovely.

So, farming's been getting a lot of the blame,

but how does that actually work?

Well, I think probably the key culprits there are

modern fertilisers and herbicides, which favours the grass

but it certainly doesn't favour the wild flowers.

And how bad is the loss?

It's been pretty catastrophic, to be frank.

We've lost 97% of our species-rich wild flower meadows.

This is since the Second World War.

It's probably slowed a little now, but we really need to work hard

to prevent that further deterioration and reverse that decline.

The statistics are pretty stark.

Of around 1,400 wild plants in Britain,

45 are classed as critically endangered.

101 species are endangered

and 307 species are listed as vulnerable.

That means about a third of our wild plants

are edging towards extinction.

Feels like the Secret Garden!

'Behind the scenes, Ted and his colleagues are going to

'extraordinary lengths to stop our wild flowers disappearing forever.'

By the look of it, we've got a mixture of the quite rampant

-and the very rare here.

-Yeah. We've got some spring beauties here.

You started with the cowslip.

This will be reasonably familiar to many people.

It's declining but it's not too endangered yet.

Really important food plant for butterflies. So, we mustn't lose it.

Next, we've got this lovely plant. This is the pasque flower.

Really associated with old, undisturbed, chalky grassland.

And it's just become so rare, so fragmented,

you'd be very lucky to see it in the wild.

And finally, we've got this one here. Tell me about this.

This is a particular favourite of mine.

This is the spiked rampion, the Rapunzel flower.

-And this is a very rare species.

-Great name - Rapunzel flower.

When you say "Very rare", what do you mean?

There are less than 300 of these surviving in the wild, we think.

-Less than 300 plants?

-Less than 300 plants in the wild.

-That's tiny!

And the fact that there are such small numbers means it's in real

danger of becoming extinct in the UK unless we act fast to save it.

'Bringing each new seedling to life is a delicate operation.

'And Ted's trusting me to pot one.'

It feels like quite a responsibility

if there are only 300 of these in the wild.

There are 50 in there. I think I got that one OK.

'The work they're doing at the Millennium Seed Bank is vital,

'not just for preserving rare and endangered species of wild

'flowers, but to ensure the future of the creatures that rely on them.'

Those wild flowers are the basis of the ecosystem.

'Pete Burgess is a conservation manager for the Wildlife Trust,

'here in Devon.'

We've seen big reductions in the abundance of some

of our butterflies, over the past 50 years,

real significant loss of greater horseshoe bat populations

and they rely on all of those insects

which are coming from all of those pastures.

'For Pete, there's no question - the decline in insects and even

'other larger animals is linked to the disappearance of wild flowers.

'But though many see farming as part of the problem,

'he thinks it's also a vital part of the solution.'

It's crucial that this area is farmed.

We've got to maintain that balance between the biodiversity

and the production side of things.

It's essential that we get that balance absolutely right.

Too little and this site would revert back to something

-that's less wildlife rich.

-So, you don't want to just let it go back

to nature? That's not necessarily good for wild flowers?

Absolutely not, no.

We're reliant on agriculture, we're reliant on farming to maintain

-what are cultural habitats.

-It's quite a subtle balance, isn't it?

It is. Absolutely.

You've got to get that level just right in these sorts of areas.

So, if you let this go without any farming,

the bracken would dominate first, then trees would come up.

Bracken would be the first thing that would really invade.

The bracken would create this dense litter layer,

and all of those really rich wild flowers just wouldn't be able

to get through that bracken layer.

So, we've got to cherish the farming and cherish the flowers as well.

Absolutely. It's getting that balance perfectly right.

'Farmers in Britain directly manage more than 200,000 acres of fields

'and field margins across the country where wild flowers can grow.

'But we don't have to rely on farmland.

'Across the UK there are plenty of other green spaces we could use.'

TRAFFIC ROARS

This little verge alone

has two nationally rare plant species growing on it.

'As founder of the wild plant charity Plantlife,

'Andy Byfield thinks roadside verges

'are the perfect vehicle for wild flowers.'

-Can verges really be good for

-wild flowers? Oh, absolutely, Tom.

I mean, for starters, two thirds

of all our flowering plants occur

on verges somewhere in Britain, which is a staggering total.

It's extraordinary, really, that, in what is such a barren habitat,

that you can get these flowers. But I'm learning that's the point

with wild flowers, they quite like it infertile, in a way, don't they?

Oh, absolutely. All these plants want is bare ground, short turf,

open patches when they come to seed,

so it's no different from your allotment or my garden.

'As well as being an ideal habitat,

'these man-made corridors do a lot of the work for Mother Nature, too.'

So much of the British countryside is a tiny meadow here,

a tiny meadow tens of miles away.

It's become so fragmented, the plants in those places,

and indeed animals in those places, can't really get from A to B to C,

but here, of course, what we're getting is the cars

coming down the road at high speed,

and what they do in their slipstream is just drag all the seed

from this junction to the next junction and beyond.

So, that's brilliant... Just like seeds catching in the fur of animals

as they move around, they get moved in the slipstream of the cars?

And carrying really very rare things up and down the verges.

'Plantlife believes verges and the edges of railway lines

'are also the most viewed habitats in the country.

It's recently launched a campaign to make councils aware

'of the huge potential for growing wild flowers.

'Here in Devon, in just one district,

'the council manages over 1,000 acres of roadside verges.'

If you multiply that across the whole country,

that's a vast area of potential wild flower habitat.

'Something environment manager Peter Chamberlain

'is taking full advantage of.'

So, why have you brought me here?

I've brought you to one of Devon County Council's

special verge sites, one of 100 or so of our better verges

-that we have around the county.

-And what's so special about it?

If we take a look at this verge here,

we've got a stunning display of spring flowers just in front of us,

-a lovely group of early purple orchids...

-That's these ones here?

..and some glorious primroses. Yes, this is the early purple orchid.

And a lovely display of primroses in flower for us out in the open here.

They are quite beautiful. I can see one or two of the orchids here,

and I'm no plant expert, but looking at those I'd think,

"That's unusual, not something I expect to see out the car window."

-That's right.

-So, what are you doing, or perhaps not doing, here

-that enables them to grow?

-Over the whole of our road network,

which is almost 13,000km in length,

we've adopted a policy where we would only regularly cut

the first metre of a verge.

The remainder of a width of a verge would be left

and be cut only every two or three years,

therefore allowing a range of lengths of grassland

to develop over the verge.

13,000km?

One of the greatest road lengths of any highway authority,

so it is a massive length

and a massive area of habitat that we're managing.

So, it's really important that we do get it right.

'From local councils to the Highways Agency,

'the people who manage British roads

'are starting to take notice of this potential.'

The classic chocolate box image of a floaty flower meadow

may sadly be vanishingly rare, but, with a bit of care and compromise,

we can provide great habitats for wild flowers

that fit with our 21st-century town and country.