The distribution of Surrey’s most delicate and biodiverse grassland habitats – species-rich meadows and pastures once used for grazing but now havens for wildflowers and wildlife, including Small Blue butterflies, Skylarks and colourful waxcap fungi – is now better understood and will hopefully be further protected thanks to SWT staff, partners and volunteers who have completed a full inventory of these little-known and at-risk sites.
A team of organisations led by Surrey Wildlife Trust and the Surrey Nature Partnership, including Surrey Biodiversity Information Centre (SBIC), the Surrey Botanical Society (SBS) and local advisers from Butterfly Conservation and the Surrey Fungus Study Group collaborated to collect field data to ensure that Surrey’s best remaining grasslands were identified and recorded as comprehensively as possible.
These grasslands are the last remaining habitats left for the diversity of colourful wildflowers – such as Bee Orchids, Sneezewort, Hoary Cinquefoil, Harebell, Common Cudweed and Horseshoe Vetch - of traditionally-managed pastures and meadows. They are relatively free from the growth-promoting fertilisers, sown grass monocultures, and drainage efforts that were widely used since the mid-20th Century to support more farm animals for longer and fatten them faster. Some of these sites will now be recommended as new Sites of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCIs), which must be considered for protection by planning authorities when they determine development applications.
The Surrey Important Grasslands Inventory 1.0 replaces the earlier publication of an interim Old Grasslands Inventory report in May 2025. It is now available here and lists 460 sites, amounting to just under 39 square kilometres of Surrey, supporting the best examples of all types of grasslands, be they in the Downs, on old commons and village greens, or in parks and churchyards. That such habitats are so rare and deserving of protection is underlined by the fact that despite these apparently large totals, the list still only accounts for 2.3% of Surrey's land area.
SWT’s Director of Research and Monitoring, Mike Waite says:
“The partners behind this report have worked for two years in rain or shine to make sure our inventory is as comprehensive as possible. We now need a strong coalition of advocates for nature to work to ensure that these beautiful and important places are properly protected.”
Surrey County Council’s Surrey Local Nature Recovery Lead, Adam Brown said:
“The Surrey Important Grasslands Inventory provides a vital voice for our important species-rich grasslands and all the associated benefits they provide to biodiversity and society.”
The inventory is already helping shape Surrey’s statutory Local Nature Recovery Strategy, to hopefully enshrine the protection of these sites within local and regional planning and biodiversity policies while also informing the direction of Biodiversity Net Gain opportunities and a Nature Recovery Network for the county. With increasing pressures on wild places from developers and policymakers, this work is essential for the protection of truly irreplaceable habitats.
Read more about Surrey’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy here.