Seed sowing along 45 acres of banks and verges began this autumn and will create a corridor of wildflower, woodland and heathland habitats
The Eden Project National Wildflower Centre (NWC) and volunteers who are known as the Wildflower Warriors – have been collecting seed by hand in a bid to bring colour and life to a major new link road being built in Cornwall.
The NWC is part of the Eden Project and has been coordinating the huge task of gathering, cleaning, sowing, growing and harvesting sufficient wildflower seed to plant the route of nearly four miles.
Construction of the link road between the A30 and St Austell is in the final phase. Seed sowing along approximately 45 acres of banks and verges began this autumn and will create a corridor of what organisers say is “vitally important” wildflower, woodland and heathland habitats. There will be new routes for cycling, walking and horse-riding on five and a half miles of newly built paths.
The NWC, in partnership with civil engineering consultancy, Griffiths and Cornwall council, has been working for five years on the landscaping strategy, which they see as a potential model for similar developments around the UK.
Seed that had been gathered in Cornwall was not readily available from mainstream suppliers, so the NWC and its Wildflower Warriors have been working hard to collect them and grow them on.
To do this, they built a network of seed donors made up of local farmers, agricultural contractors and environmental and community groups. Local ecology consultancy, Code 7 Consulting Ltd, supplied local provenance heather seed and algae propagules for the heathland creation.
To try to increase biodiversity, the NWC is sowing a mix of annual and perennial wildflower seed, meaning – all being well – that the habitats will be blooming for years to come.
The establishment of the wildflower corridor is one of many NWC projects dotted around the UK. Stephanie Knights, NWC project manager, said: “We want to ensure the new road is as natural and biodiverse as a road can be, featuring an abundance of wildflowers that are typical of the Cornish countryside.
Producing enough seed for such a large area has been a mammoth task and we’ve seen some great teamwork
“Producing enough seed for such a large area has been a mammoth task, and we’ve seen some great teamwork involving our volunteers from the local community, local landowners, and the partners involved in the building of the road.”
She said that people can expect to see lots of vibrant colours of annual wildflowers – yellow, blue, white, red in the first year. “In the second year,” Knights added, “the colours will be more subtle as the perennial wildflowers start to establish”.
Annual wildflowers will act as a nursery crop, which will help establish the perennial species typically seen in Cornish hedgerows and on the coast path, including red campion, wild carrot, ox-eye daisy and devil’s-bit scabious.
Knights said that, as well as bringing vibrancy and colour into the area, they are also educating people about the important wildflower habitat that has declined significantly in the UK since world war two.
Annual wildflowers will act as a nursery crop, which will help establish the perennial species typically seen in Cornish hedgerows and on the coast path
“We have actually lost 97% of our wildflower habitats since then, so we’re trying to bring them back from the brink. Establishing a team of enthusiastic volunteers from the local community willing to give their time and energy to the road project has massively contributed to the successful harvest.”
The St Austell to A30 link road is a new route that will connect the old A30 near Victoria to the north to the A391 at Stenalees roundabout to the south.
Main image: Emily Whitfield-Wicks
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