Watchtree Nature Reserve, Cumbria

Watchtree Nature Reserve has been created on the site of Great Orton airfield which was used as a mass culling and disposal site for livestock during the 2001 Foot and Mouth disease outbreak. The objectives of the reserve were to create a haven for wildlife and to develop a landscape and re-create habitats to enhance the richness and diversity of species by providing three distinct natural environments: trees and scrubland, meadows and hedges, and ponds and wetlands.

As part of this large areas of wildflower grassland were sown in 2002. The main aim of this grassland creation project was to create meadow and pasture swards which could be ascribed to the MG5 Centaurea nigra – Cynosurus cristatus grassland NVC community. This grassland is intended to contribute towards the national Biodiversity Action Plan target for creation of MG5 hay meadow and the Cumbria BAP target for the restoration and maintenance of habitat suitable for marsh fritillary butterflies.

In 2004 we were asked to establish a series of monitoring quadrats throughout the sown grassland to monitor the progress of these grasslands as they became established. We have been monitoring these quadrats annually ever since.