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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Phoebe Weston

Flowers everywhere? England’s ambitious scheme to restore wildlife hangs in the balance

View of rolling green fields on Iford estate from South Downs Way
Iford Estate in East Sussex has been planted with arable crops for decades, but now large swathes have been sown with wildflowers as part of the biodiversity net gain scheme. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

In a field in the South Downs national park, undulating green hills meet the sky. In the distance, villages built of flint sit in the valleys, and chalky white cliffs lie like giant beached whales above the Channel.For decades, the field where I’m standing has been in an arable cycle. It was last sown for wheat in 2022, and this year would have been planted with barley.

Instead, it was sown with wildflowers: yarrow, vetches, clovers and oxeye daisies lie awaiting spring, when the monotonous green will break out into a sea of colour.

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