A three-year project in Sussex will focus on the potential for grass verges to help tackle the biodiversity crisis.

The pilot scheme is being run by a partnership of West Sussex County Council and the South Downs National Park Authority. 

The research will look at the benefits of removing grass cuttings, known as arisings, from the grass verges alongside our roads.  Traditionally grass cuttings are left on the ground to decompose and encourage coarser grasses which outcompete any wildflowers.  Removing the arisings would enable a variety of wildflowers to grow and become habitat for insects and pollinators. 

Biodiversity monitoring will take place over the next three years; surveys will look at the impact of the “cut and collect” system on the diversity of flora and fauna.