Thursday April 21st 2022
An enormous wildflower meadow is being created on the border of Midlothian and East Lothian, between Pathhead and Pencaitland.
The meadow will be the largest habitat of its kind in the area, the size of 4 and a half football pitches, and as well as supporting thousands of pollinating insects, such as bees and butterflies, it will also sink around 641kg of carbon every year.
In order to create the meadow a local company Seilich, which recently won the Midlothian and East Lothian Best New Business of 2022, is running a crowdfunding campaign offering rewards such as products, discounts, meadow experiences and places on workshops in return for donations.
Seilich is a natural skincare company run by botanist Dr Sally Gouldstone reinvesting its profits to create and manage wildflower meadows for the benefit of nature conservation. From these meadows, ingredients for its beauty products are sustainably harvested. As a result of these nature-centric practices, Seilich is the only beauty company to ever have been shortlisted for an RSPB Nature of Scotland Award and in addition is the only company in the UK to have gained Wildlife Friendly Certification. To date over 4,500 square metres of meadow habitat have been created by the company.
Butterfly Conservation Scotland have said that the project would
“Help boost local populations of butterflies and moths. Many of these insects are disappearing from our landscape because of the loss of wildflower-rich meadows, and initiatives like this can help bring wildlife back to the countryside.”
The Scottish Wildlife Trust Lothians Group came to visit the site and said
“Wildflower meadows are now a rare sight to see across our landscapes, so to have Seilich build its business around the conservation of this important habitat is so very encouraging.”
Gill Perkins CEO of Bumblebee Conservation Trust
“In the last 100 years the UK has lost 97% of its meadows and other species-rich grasslands leading to bumblebee extinctions and declines. Species-rich meadows, small or large, are essential for pollinators, helping to reverse their declines and flourish.”
The crowdfunder page is available HERE.
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