A PARTNERSHIP between a food brand and a conservation charity is set to protect 15 million square feet of Scottish wildflower meadow.
Ella’s Kitchen, which sells organic baby and toddler food, has teamed-up with the RSPB in order to protect wildflower-rich grasslands around Loch Lomond and on the island of Tiree.
The habitat on Tiree set to be preserved is one of the rarest habitats in Europe: the biodiverse grass plains known as machair.
Machair is constituted of fertile and low-lying grassy plains which provide habitat for endangered bees, birds and insects such as great yellow bumblebees and lapwings.
Support from Ella’s Kitchen will allow the RSPB to continue traditional crofting practices and grazing management which maintain the habitat on their Tiree reserve.
Chief executive at The RSPB, Beccy Speight, said the deal showed how businesses can help solve the biodiversity crisis.
“Nature is facing many threats, from the destruction of habitats to pesticide use and climate change, resulting in problems like the loss of pollinators. But it’s not too late to intervene. Ella’s Kitchen is facing into these challenges through targeted action in this new partnership that is both good for nature and good for people.
"Businesses have a crucial role to play in addressing the dual nature and climate crises, and partnerships like this that seek to restore and sustainably manage ecosystems and restore the biodiversity that we all rely on are so important.”
On Loch Lomond, some of the last remaining fragments of native wildflower grassland in West Dunbartonshire will be protected by the partnership.
The project will maintain A Coronation Meadow, one of 60 wildflower meadows supported by King Charles to celebrate the diamond jubilee for Elizabeth II.
These meadows contain over 120 flowering species of plant and support a wide range of birds, bees, and bugs, including the threatened Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, and Grasshopper Warblers.
The partnership forms part of Ella’s Big Pledge to Little People: a commitment to invest in the future to ensure every little one grows up on a healthy planet that has plenty of food.
With the UK having lost 97% of its wildflower meadows in the last century, it is hoped the deal will protect and restore 30 million square feet of UK wildflower meadows and grassland by 2030.
Mark Cuddigan, CEO of Ella’s Kitchen, said: “Nature and business go hand in hand. At Ella’s, we want to do everything we can to protect nature, our pollinators, and our little ones’ futures.
"By working with the RSPB not only can we help protect and restore vital wildflower habitats across the UK, we want to continue to learn about the challenges our little ones face and how we can tackle them”.
