Wild flower meadows are colourful fields of wild flowers that buzz with the sound of grasshopper's, bees and butterflies, they also support fungi, insect and seed eating birds and other wildlife.  These meadows have all but disappeared from the Welsh Countryside, many are now lush ryegrass pastures and heavily fertilised silage fields.

Where flower rich meadows have survived, they are isolated and often surrounded by intensively farmed land, making it difficult for wildlife to migrate between areas.

Wild meadows are not only restricted to agricultural land.  They can also be found in churchyards and parks that have escaped the use of fertilisers and weed killers.  Areas can be developed in urban green spaces, school nature areas and gardens, often areas can be restored simply through changes to the cutting regime.

Carmarthenshire has retained a relatively rich grassland habitat, especially in the 'coalfields' area in the south–east of the county where land was less intensively farmed and unimproved grassland has survived.  Where intensive agriculture is dominant flower rich pastures are few and far between, isolated within wetter valley bottom or steep slopes, which are difficult to access with machinery.

In an attempt to reverse the decline, Flora locale, with funding from the Countryside Council for Wales and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, has established the Wild Meadows (Wales) Initiative. This aims to:

• significantly raise the profile of this habitat among the public, landowners and politicians – create a profile for Wild Meadows on a par with that already achieved for trees and woodlands
• increase the available resources (cash and people) invested into restoring species–rich grasslands
• improve the policy and funding climate in support of restoring and protecting the habitat
• promote and develop effective coordination of work relating to this habitat, including resource and information–sharing, among all relevant groups (e.g. nature conservation organisations, agricultural bodies, local authorities and LBAP groups)
• through the above, to substantially increase the number of species–rich grassland sites that are in a favourable condition and to extend the available resource through habitat creation initiatives.
• Encourage the production and supply of Welsh wild flora seed and plants for wild meadow projects; these include identifying and using wild donor sites for collecting seed or hay, and identifying opportunities to develop nursery–grown stock. 

The website www.wildmeadows.org.uk/www.dolyddbyw.org.uk will be on line soon, and will provide a 'one–stop–shop' for information on wildflower meadow management and restoration.  It will also include wildflower grasslands open for visiting, restoration case studies and other material, such as technical information.