Over 125,000 wildflowers have been planted in Cumbria over the past two years, thanks the huge efforts of volunteers and partners, and several generous funding bodies.

From April 2023 to March 2025, we've restored 159 acres of grasslands for the benefit of wildlife, in particular our pollinating insects. That’s the equivalent area of 99 football pitches of improved habitats.

From small parks and school playing fields, to nature reserves and larger-scale meadows and farmland, the conservation work has taken place at a wide range of locations, across different areas of the county.

While funding for some of these schemes is now coming to an end, with careful management, their impact on our pollinating insects, as well as for local communities, will be long-lasting and very positive.

Most of the wildflowers were grown from seed at our award-winning wildflower nursery at Gosling Sike, Houghton near Carlisle, before being planted out. The projects have increased the range of flowering plants across the county, giving pollinators more opportunities to forage, and joining up important habitats that were previously fragmented.

In Eden, at Cold Springs & Thacka Beck nature reserves near Penrith, 51 acres of wildflower rich habitat have been restored. Local communities have helped to plant wildflowers, hedges and flowering trees, thanks to funding by the National Highways Network for Nature scheme.

Cold Springs near Penrith is our first ever community nature reserve. The Cold Springs steering group and volunteers are transforming this formerly nature-depleted field into a great space for nature. People of all ages have taken part in tree-planting days, creating ‘scrubby corridors’ with longer vegetation, planting native species, such as hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel and elder. They’ve planted ferns in the hedgerow corridors, and woodland-edge species of wildflowers such as red campion, wood sage, violets, harebell and tufted vetch were added to attract pollinating insects. Further improvements to access are ongoing and the nature reserve will be formally opened at a community event at end of May. 

Also in Eden, Westmorland & Furness Council, through its Eden Locality Board, supported planting events at four community sites: Fairhill Recreation Ground (Alston), Otteriggs Field (Salkeld Dykes), Carleton Park (Penrith) and Edensyde (Kirkby Stephen). A total of 177 people planted 8,000 wildflower plug plants, at a series of Planting for Pollinator-themed events.

Across the Lake District, 71 acres of grassland have been transformed into species-rich meadows across 16 locations, thanks to the Coast to Fell project, funded by Network for Nature and National Highways. We've worked with landowners and tenants to create, restore and connect 71 acres of grassland. They included lakeside settings near Coniston and Ullswater, as well as upland hay meadows in the Westmorland Dales. The locations ranged from small farms and orchards of just under an acre, to larger areas of land owned by the National Trust, and wildflowers planted include oxeye daisies, meadow cranesbill, great burnet and autumn hawkbit.

In South Cumbria, kitchenware store Lakeland Ltd has supported a wildflower planting scheme close to its flagship store in Windermere.  Eight acres of hay meadows have been restored in central and south Cumbria, including at Fellside, Sunbrick, Abbot Park, Bandrake Head, Bouth, Rusland with Lakeland staff doing a great job, enthusiastically helping out with plug-planting activities.

In addition, Westmorland & Furness Council, through its South Lakeland Locality Board, helped transform seven community sites, at: Kendal Castle, Kendal Towpath, Ford Park (Ulverston) and Milnthorpe Playing Fields. Three further sites at Kendal Green, Esthwaite Green and Sandylands Park were restored for pollinators, with funding from Kendal Town Council. A total of 267 volunteers planted a staggered 16,000 plants, over a series of Planting for Pollinators plug-planting days.

Tanya St. Pierre, Grassland and Pollinator Team Manager for Cumbria Wildlife Trust said: “In the past couple of years, Cumbria has seen a real boost in the number of plants for our pollinating insects and a great improvement in the area’s important grassland habitats. We’re incredibly grateful to all the funders who’ve made this work possible, and to our partners and the hundreds of hard-working volunteers who we’ve worked with – they’ve not only helped our pollinators but are making their local communities and green spaces really special places to live!”

“Several of these projects will continue in the coming years, thanks to further generous funding, and we have new wildflower and pollinator projects starting too, so our work carries on – there’s still so much to do! A huge thank you to all the funding bodies who have supported us and to everyone who is committed to taking action for nature in their local community. Every single one of us can make a big difference.”

Tanya emphasises: “Grassland and habitat restoration is a ‘process’, therefore over time and with sympathetic ongoing management, sites that have had seed or plants added will become increasingly species-rich.”

Tanya explains why this work is important: “Since the 1940s, we've lost 97% of UK flower-rich meadows, 50% of our hedgerows, and 60% of flowering plants are in decline. Sadly these declines are mirrored in Cumbria, but it’s not too late to act. By re-instating these flower-rich habitats in our landscape, we're helping to restore the variety and wealth of pollinating insects.”

Among the work that we'll continue this year is a project in Eden and South Lakeland, thanks to funding from Westmorland and Furness Council, through its Eden and South Lakeland Locality Boards. We'll work with communities at two sites in Eden and enhance five sites in South Lakeland, along with running a programme of events and training, focused on taking action for pollinators.

Our work within the East of Eden, funded by Natural England, is also underway, providing habitat advice for landowners and delivering habitat interventions for pollinators. We'll also be working on six community sites through a partnership with Fibrus Broadband, as part of Hyperfast GB connecting Cumbria.

Among the new projects starting this year to improve Cumbria’s grasslands and habitats for pollinators is the Cumbria Seed Bank, based at Gosling Sike near Houghton. This two-year project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, aims to reverse the decline of rare and iconic wildflowers in South Lakeland.