From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Plantlife is a U.K. plant conservation charity, founded in 1989. As of 2006, its membership was 12,000 and it owned 23 nature reserves. Its patron is HRH the Prince of Wales and its chairman is Adrian Darby OBE. The chief executive is Jane Smart OBE.

Plantlife's principal activities in Britain include the following:

• Management of nature reserves
• Running a rare species conservation programme, "Back from the Brink"
• Lobbying and campaigning in support of its aims
• Organising surveys aimed at generating interest in wild plants by members of the public

It also has an international arm.

Contents 1 Plantlife Nature Reserves 2 The Back from the Brink programme 3 The Plantlife county flowers competition 4 Important Plant Areas 5 Plantlife and Fungi 6 External links

Plantlife run the following nature reserves:

• Long Herdon and Grange Meadows, Buckinghamshire
• Munsary Peatlands, Caithness
• Cae Blaen-dyffryn, Carmarthenshire
• Greena Moor, Cornwall
• Augill Pasture, Cumbria
• Deep Dale, Derbyshire
• Ryewater Farm, Dorset
• Caeau Tan y Bwlch, Gwynedd
• Davies Meadows, Herefordshire
• Joan's Hill Farm, Herefordshire
• The Lugg Meadows, Herefordshire
• Moaney and Crawyn's Meadows, Isle of Man
• Queendown Warren, Kent
• Ranscombe Farm, Kent
• Thompson Meadow, North Yorkshire
• Winskill Stones, North Yorkshire
• Seaton Meadows, Rutland
• Skylark Meadows, Somerset
• Side Farm Meadows, Staffordshire
• Winks Meadow, Suffolk
• Furnace Meadow and Brick Kiln Rough, West Sussex
• Stockwood Meadows, Worcestershire
• Upton Ham, Worcestershire

Plantlife's "Back from the Brink" programme was initiated in 1991. Its intention was to focus conservation efforts on some of the rarest plant species in Britain. It initially concenrated on vascular plants but was extended to cover lower plants and fungi. As of 2006, 101 species are covered by the programme. The programme included survey work to establish information about populations of these species, monitoring of populations to identify change over time and the factors relating to this, research into ecological requirements of the species, and site management work aimed at maintaining or restoring habitat conditions suitable for these species.

In 2002 Plantlife ran a competition to select county flowers for all counties of the UK. The list was declared in 2004. A campaign led by the Eastern Daily Press changed the selection for Norfolk. A list of the flowers chosen can be found at List of county flowers of the United Kingdom.

Plantlife has developed the concept of Important Plant Areas, first in Britain, and is currently working on extending this concept worldwide.

Although much of Plantlife's work is centred on plants, it is also involved in the conservation of fungi. Its work in this areas include surveying Waxcap grasslands and compiling a list of Britain's Important Fungus Areas.

• Plantlife website