Dales appeal to protect hay meadows

HAY meadows in the Yorkshire Dales are set to benefit from a £150,000 appeal which aims to protect the habitats.

Tomorrow the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) will launch its appeal which hopes will raise £150,000 over the next three years to enable it to continue its Hay Time project to protect and restore hay meadows in the Dales.

Don Gamble, Hay Time project manager at the YDMT said: “Thanks to generations of Dales farmers, the Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of the few UK strongholds for traditionally-managed, species-rich hay meadows. The Hay Time project works with farmers to help protect these meadows and also to restore the botanical diversity in meadows that have lost their wildlife value.”

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Since 2006 a number of restoration schemes using locally-harvested meadow seed have been carried out. The project has also provided many opportunities for people to find out more about the wildlife that meadows support and about the vital role that meadows play in upland farming.

Mr Gamble will give a talk about hay meadows in the Yorkshire Dales at the Buck Inn, Malham, on April 23.

The free talk starts at 7pm.

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