THE restoration of flower-rich meadows will be a key aim of Defra's soon-to-be-launched Higher Level Stewardship Scheme.

It is expected to lead to rising demand for local seed from identifiable locations, but only a limited amount is available.

Defra, and both the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Park Authorities, are actively working to increase both supply of, and demand for, the valuable seed stocks.

In recent weeks, farmers, landowners and contractors have been able to see a new, locally-developed seed harvester in action, and learn more about the importance of local seed in meadow restoration work.

The harvester is the brainchild of Ian Fletcher, who farms on the North York moors. It collects about a third of the seed from the hay, ensuring the meadows flower in future years.

Mr Fletcher received funding from the North York Moors National Park sustainable development fund to take his idea from the drawing board to a working harvester. It can be towed behind a quad bike and is designed to leave 90pc of the hay crop standing, so farmers get two crops for the price of one.

The demonstrations were held in Ribblesdale, Swaledale and Teesdale, with experts highlighting what made a good meadow, the various restoration techniques available, meadow management and funding sources.

As well as the practical demonstration, ecologist Jenny Dicker, who specialises in the restoration of species-rich grasslands, and Martin O'Hanlon from the Rural Development Service, which advises farmers on Defra's agri-environment schemes, were among the specialists explaining the potential of harvesting meadow seed.

The events were organised by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and Don Gamble, the trust project officer, said demand for locally-collected seed to use in meadow restoration projects was likely to increase over the next few years.

"Potentially, farmers with good quality meadows can sell the harvested seed or hay to farmers wanting to restore their meadows to a more diverse condition, and agri-environment schemes could provide the funding for this," he said.

Once a typical feature of the British landscape, wildflower meadows have declined by about 90pc since 1945 through the increased use of fertilisers and more intensive agriculture.

The Pennine Dales ESA contains 90pc of England's remaining upland meadows, some of which are recognised as among the most important in Europe and are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

By encouraging careful management through its agri-environment schemes, Defra has been working to conserve and restore the meadows.

Its sustainable development fund supports projects which bring social, environmental and economic benefits to the national parks. It also aims to develop and test new ways of achieving a more sustainable way of living in the parks, while enhancing and conserving local culture, wildlife, landscape, land use and communities.