Posted on: Wednesday 1 May 2024
Residents are being urged to support No Mow May and leave their lawns uncut this month to help biodiversity and tackle climate change.
Or you could go further and support Torfaen Council’s Let It Grow campaign by leaving areas of your garden grow until October.
It's 10 years since the council first introduced its sustainable grassland management programme, which identifies areas of land where grass cutting is reduced, between April and October, to allow grass and wildflowers to pollinate during the summer.
The Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen Local Nature Partnership group is now planning to carry out a study to see what impact the programme has had on local butterfly numbers.
Veronika Brannovic, Local Nature Partnership Co-Ordinator, said: "We now have 200 areas across Torfaen that are being managed sustainably and we know they are having a positive impact on local insect populations.
"Last year, we discovered wasp spiders in a verge in Pontnewynydd and at Henllys Local Nature Reserve, which is the furthest north they've ever been recorded. We've also seen a wider variety of butterflies including Orange-tips, Small Skippers, Marbled Whites and Peacock butterflies.
"We're now looking for volunteers to help us carry out a butterfly count to see how the programme is helping local numbers."
Research from the Butterfly Conservation charity suggests letting grass grow long can increase butterfly numbers by up to 93 per cent. If you would like to get involved in the butterfly count, contact veronika.brannovic@torfaen.gov.uk
Tackling the climate and nature emergency is one of the council's Wellbeing Objectives. Read more about the sustainable grassland project
Councillor Mandy Owen, Executive Member for the Environment, said: “Allowing wildflowers in lawns to grow over the summer is great for pollinators, other wildlife and it increases plant diversity, which helps to remove carbon from the atmosphere – a key part of reducing climate change."
To get involved in the No Mow May campaign, register on the Plantlife website and leave your lawn uncut throughout May. Register for No Mow May
You can share photographs of the wildflowers and wildlife in your unmown lawns on our social media pages using the hashtag #NurtureNatureTorfaen.
Photo credit: (L-R) Photographs of a Small Skipper, Marbled White, Orange-tip and Peacock butterflies by Andy Karran, from Gwent Wildlife Trust