If you are interested in conserving and enhancing wildflower meadows and roadside verges in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) come along and join us for a free evening talk on Friday 30th September at 7.30pm at Sawley Village Hall.

 

Wildflowers in the AONB are enjoyed by many but are a shrinking resource. This event will look at current efforts to conserve and enhance hay meadows in the Nidderdale AONB and the Yorkshire Dales National Park and it will also launch a future campaign to survey and conserve the wide diversity of flora in our roadside verges.

 

The event will include presentations by Christa Perry, Haytime Officer for the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) and James Ferguson, Project Officer for the Dales Verges Project. Christa has spearheaded the Yorkshire Dales Haytime Project, supported by The Friends of Nidderdale AONB, which has worked with local farmers to restore 35 ha of hay meadow within the AONB in 2011. The Dales Verges Project worked with local communities and North Yorkshire County Council to bring roadside verges into sympathetic management, including the Sawley Parish Verges Scheme which is now into its third season.

 

Kelly Harmar, AONB Development Officer, said: "If you know of any special meadows and verges near you, or sites that could be restored, we would love you to come along and tell us about them. The AONB hopes to set up groups to monitor and manage the best examples of verges within the AONB, and to restore verges in poor condition. To do this we need local people to tell us where they can be found."

 

If you would like to book a place at the event please contact the AONB office on 01423 712950 or email aonbevents@harrogate.gov.uk