Trees to be ripped up in Brampton wildflower blunder
- Published
The saplings will be pulled out and replanted at another site, the Woodland Trust said
Dozens of saplings are to be ripped up after a Cumbrian farmer was wrongly advised to plant them in a wildflower meadow.
The saplings were planted close to rare Greater Butterfly Orchids at Gateshaw Mill Farm, near Brampton, after the Woodland Trust gave the go-ahead.
Conservationist Rob Dixon, of Wild Lakeland, pointed out the blunder and the trees will now be moved.
The Woodland Trust said a "mistake with data" was to blame for the error.
It is hoped the wildflowers will grow when the trees are removed
The farm supplies milk to confectionary-maker Nestle which pays for the tree-planting drive as part of its landscape management programme.
A spokesman said the trees were planted with the "best of intentions" and the meadow would be restored.
Rare Greater Butterfly Orchids grow in the meadow
A spokesman for the Woodland Trust said a database check had not revealed any areas of concern regarding the farm and the advice was given in error.
Conservationist Rob Dixon, of Wild Lakeland, said: "Wildflower rich grassland sites are often small, fragmented and under-recorded.
"As they are already such a rare and valuable habitat this makes them extremely vulnerable and at risk.
"As the trees got older they would have blocked out the light, destroying the flower habitat."