23 football pitches worth of hay meadows restored in Lake District

A joint project by Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) and Cumbria Wildlife Trust has seen 16 hectares of hay meadows restored across the Lake District, the equivalent to 23 football pitches.

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Supported through BMW UK's Recharge in Nature project in a partnership secured by National Parks Partnership, the project helped enhance biodiversity on farmland across the National Park.

Between June and September 2025, teams worked closely with farmers at Collinfield, Loweswater, Embleton and in the Newlands valley to identify sites appropriate for restoration, before sowing native wildflower seeds from nearby donor sites or introducing locally propagated plants.

Claire Foster, Farming Officer for LDNPA, said: "In years to come these meadows will be more diverse environments supporting a variety of flora and fauna whilst playing an important role in livestock farming in the Lake District.