PM 39 - Enhance species-rich road verges and restore species-poor verges
- Code
- PM 39
- Measure
- Enhance species-rich road verges and restore species-poor verges
- Description
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Road verges and roundabouts sown with species-rich mixes and/or managed with a reduced mowing regime carry a significantly higher value to biodiversity, particularly pollinators and birds. Road verges with poor species diversity and an intensive mowing regime should be enhanced to provide more high-quality wildlife habitat , creating a network of mini linear hay meadows throughout the county. The aim should be to create a habitat that is low growing and requires little maintenance. Where new roads are built, topsoil or grass seed should not be added but a suitable species rich seed mix sown of flowering species adapted to poor soils. At dangerous junctions and accident hotspots topsoil stripping should be carried out and sowing of a suitable wildflower mix adapted to poor soils. Dumping of ditch spoil on verges should be avoided to reduce soil enrichment that would encourage vigorous fast-growing species needing frequent mowing. Cut and collect management should be implemented on A and B roads to permanently reduce the fertility of verges, reducing road safety concerns and the need for frequent mowing. These measures should be tied in with the adjacent habitats so that where species-rich grassland is being created, restored or managed any adjacent road verges are prioritised also for the above actions to complement the wider habitat work.
- Wider environmental benefits
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Increasing woodland cover Improving air quality Improving water quality Increasing flood risk management Reducing climate change impacts Supporting health and cultural services Improving soil health Promoting nature friendly farming Controlling invasive species Supporting food provision
- Links to additional information and guidance
- Priority
- Nature-rich areas within the built environment are accessible, climate resilient, interconnected and biodiverse
- Priority description
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Whilst Herefordshire is a rural county the city, towns and villages are still important places that can be shared by people and wildlife. Many species have come to successfully coexist with people in urban settings, and many others must travel across the built environment areas when moving between their natural habitats. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the built up areas and settlements can enable species to move freely and even inhabit these areas in the long-term. The majority of these measures and supporting actions can apply on private and council land as well as to schools, business premises and hospital grounds, and between them these spaces can become an interwoven network for nature within our built environment.
- Mapped