Advocate for good road verge management 

Influence

Long-term

Road verges cover a huge area in the UK. When they are managed well, they can provide an important habitat for animals and accommodate billions of plants and wildflowers. But road verges are often overlooked.

Speak to those with the power to make a change and help them to understand the value of these areas.

You will need

to contact your local council or join groups that advocate for high-quality road verge management

How this can help

Food

Health

Habitat

Trees and plants

Pollinators

Clean air

Road verges can be a haven for meadow plants. These provide food for pollinating insects and a protected space for mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
Good management of road verges prevents them from becoming overgrown with prolific native plants such as nettles and bramble, which can strangle rarer plants and damage biodiversity.
Trees can provide shelter, nesting and roosting sites for bats, mammals and birds. The inclusion of hedges can force birds, particularly those such as barn owls that have a habit of flying low, to fly higher than the traffic, keeping them safe from cars.
Road verges serve as buffers against noise and air pollution.
They can also provide commuters with daily (and sometimes their only) contact with nature.

Do your bit for biodiversity

Are you already doing this? Let us know!

Nearly half of the UK's wildflower species grow in verges. These roadside spaces are refuges for many rare meadow wildflowers, which is crucial since the UK has lost 97% of its meadows since the 1930s.

Natural History Museum, London