The process to create the environment
To develop the Caerwent CADW meadows to create sustainable wildlife rich wildflower meadows as a facility for local residents. This will involve maintaining the meadows in order to encourage the balance of indigenous grasses and flower species and introducing a wider range of locally sourced wildflower species. It will also include protecting existing habitats such as woodland and woodland edges. The Opportunity will be taken to create a wildlife environment which supports insect, mammal, amphibian and bird life. This will involve preserving some of the established bramble, nettle, scrub and tree areas. To allow wildflowers to thrive, the current coarse grass species needs to be controlled to allow finer, less competitive, meadow grasses to establish. It should be noted that wildflowers do not thrive in rich or fertilised soils and will be killed by layers of mown grass; we therefore propose to have grass cuttings removed to an identified area on the site in the first instance with the long term plan being to produce a quality grass that can be used for hay/silage, this gives it a commercial value to offset cutting costs.The intentionas far as possible is to ensure a working plan for low maintenance and sustainable meadows that they will continue to look good for years to come.
