Celebrating National Meadows Day at The Donkey Sanctuary 

This Saturday is National Meadows Day, an annual celebration of the magnificent meadows the UK has to offer. It illustrates their importance in our landscape and acts to raise awareness of this vanishing habitat. 

Thanks to the dedicated hard work of The Donkey Sanctuary’sEcology and Conservation team and their band of trusty volunteers – and the resident donkeys of course – several areas across theSidmouth sanctuary have been restored to species-rich grassland, providing crucial habitat for a whole diversity of native wildlife, which in turn enrich the donkeys’ lives. 

Swathes of colourful wildflowers, where the air is buzzing to the sound of pollinating insects, fill areas of the sanctuary too, while regular plant and wildlife surveys show an increase in numbers and diversity among species, demonstrating how important these sites have become. 

The resident donkeys also play their part in helping wildflowers bloom at the sanctuary. Walking through seeding meadows and species-rich grassland, they disperse the seeds and lightly trample them into the ground where the seeds can germinate the following year.

They also browse woody vegetation and fast-growing coarse grasses, the removal of which creates space and allows light to reach the finer, slower-growing species, helping them to establish.

Sustainable land management is hugely important, not only for ensuring long-term habitats for the thriving populations of plants and animals, but also for the sense of wellbeing it gives people, and for providing the resident donkeys with an enriched environment and secure future. 

National Meadows Day encourages people to get out and about in a meadow near them, and the Sidmouth sanctuary offer visitors lots of areas where they can do just that.