A team of conservation and land-management organisations led by Surrey Wildlife Trust and the Surrey Nature Partnership, including Surrey Biodiversity Information Centre (SBIC), Surrey County Council, Natural England, Surrey Botanical Society (SBS) and local advisers fromButterfly Conservation and the Surrey Fungus Study Group have collaborated to gather field data and work together to ensure that Surrey’s ancient grasslands are managed as effectively as possible to support biodiversity long into the future.
The Surrey Old Grasslands Inventory Interim Report is now available here and lists sites supporting the best examples of all types of grasslands, be they in the Downs, on old commons and village greens, in parks and churchyards.
These grasslands are the last remaining habitats left for the diversity of colourful wildflowers – such as Bee Orchids 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. Many of these pastures are now used to graze horses as pets and for recreation.
The most impressive ancient grasslands are on the chalk in the North Downs, but acidic sandy pastures and floodplains elsewhere in the county can support a complexity of plant, bird, reptile and invertebrate species too.
Already, new grassland sites have been discovered thanks to investigations in south-west Surrey led in 2023 and 2024 by SWT’s Director of Research and Monitoring, Mike Waite. New records of declining plants such as Sneezewort, Hoary Cinquefoil, Harebell and Common Cudweed pointed Mike towards hitherto unrecognised species-rich pastures, which will now be recommended as new Sites of Conservation Importance (SNCIs), which must be considered for protection by planning authorities when they are determining development applications.
SWT’s Director of Research & Monitoring, Mike Waite says:
“It has long been the dream of Surrey’s amateur botanists to systematically catalogue the species-rich pastures of a bygone era, and to offer them comparable planning protection to Ancient Woodland as a better recognised, collective resource. Thanks to the work of this coalition of the willing, that dream comes closer to fruition. But maintaining Surrey’s irreplaceable botanical biodiversity is more than a pet project for experts – it’s an important step towards forging a more positive relationship with all our native species and landscapes for the benefit of everyone.”
Surrey County Council’s Surrey Local Nature Recovery Lead, Adam Brown said: “The Surrey Old Grasslands Inventory has created a much-needed baseline for the production of the first Surrey Local Nature Recovery Strategy. This provided a stronger voice for our important species-rich grasslands and all the associated benefits they provide to biodiversity and society more broadly.”
This year, more ‘ground-truthing’ surveys organised by Mike and his colleagues will be conducted across Surrey, investigating more than 100 sites all the way up to the river Thames floodplain, where botanical gems as Autumn Squill, Strawberry Clover and Sea Stork’s-bill still survive in some locations – including road verges! As a result, the grasslands inventory will be finalised in early 2026. It 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.