More wildflowers to be planted to entice important pollinators back

20 March 2025

Close up of a wasp on a blue wildflower with yellow wildflowers in the background.

The wildflower beds create the perfect habitat for pollinators including wasps and bees.

More than 73,000 square metres of public open space in Wirral will be planted with native wildflowers under efforts to increase the number of pollinators in the borough.

In support of Wirral’s response to the Climate Emergency and as part of the council’s Pollinator Strategy, 15 new wildflower meadows are being created on land which had already been designated as ‘rewilding areas’.

Following field surveys at each location, which providing an understanding of the plant and animal life currently present, the sites were selected as ones where other important plants were least likely to be impacted from the planting of the wildflowers.

Soil testing has taking place to identify the types of native wildflowers that would do best at each location and management plans for each site have been developed setting out the design for each location, the methods to be used to create viable pollinator areas and the future management approach.

Important insect pollinator species have experienced national decline, with more than half of the country’s 27 bumblebee species in decline and three having already become extinct. Two-thirds of moths are in long-term decline along with 71% of butterflies. Some studies have shown that since 1970, pollinating insects may have declined by as much as a quarter.

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries on earth, but we know that the natural environment is good for our physical and mental health. I hope people will appreciate and celebrate these little areas of nature restoration in our built-up urban world.
Wildflowers encourage native butterflies and other important species. Creating more pollinator sites is an important approach to protecting the future of some species, particularly the orange-tipped butterfly.

Cllr Liz Grey, Chair of the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee

Work to plant the seeds from which the new wildflowers will grow has already started at one of the sites – Magazine Promenade in New Brighton. This is one of two sites – the other being Egremont Promenade in Seacombe – that are being funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The other 13 sites are being funded through an investment of £300,000 from the Neighbourhoods Investment Fund agreed by councillors last year. Signs will be displayed to inform residents and visitors that these areas are being managed as wildflower meadows to encourage and support bees, butterflies and other pollinator insects.

The 15 areas where wildflower meadows are being created, and the electoral wards they are in, are:-