Your microlight airfield, a valuable resource for biodiversity

As an aerodrome or microlight airfield manager, you maintain open spaces, in particular grassland. These habitats can be important resources for biodiversity, notably through the wild plants that grow there and produce seed.

With the overall decline of natural grasslands, aerodrome grasslands are becoming valuable biodiversity reservoirs for some players in the sector (seed producers or conservation bodies) who struggle to find natural grasslands large enough to harvest. As a reminder, the wild seeds harvested in this way can be used for renaturation projects run, for example, by local authorities near you, or to help farmers sow resilient, easy-to-manage grasslands.

Harvesting grassland seed is a light and quick operation that is entirely compatible with your management objectives and the safety constraints of flying. The harvesting methods are presented in a webinar (the replay is available here). You can also contribute to this sector simply by agreeing to let a farmer or a company come and harvest seed before mowing, as La Rochelle aerodrome did recently (TV report), as well as those of Carcassonne, Castres, Saumur and Poitiers.

Today you can easily contribute to the development of this sector, which holds promise for safeguarding biodiversity, by registering your aerodrome on the interactive “Natural grassland seed” platform presented in the webinar, which aims to map potential harvesting sites. To do so, follow this link, click the “Add a harvesting site” button and simply fill in the form with the information you have. If a player in the sector is interested in your grassland, they will contact you.

You will find more information about the scheme in the site’s FAQ. You can also contact Mr Manuel DELAFOULHOUZE, of the Pyrénées and Midi-Pyrénées national botanical conservatory, on 05 62 95 85 35 or by e-mail at manuel.delafoulhouze@cbnpmp.fr.

Thank you in advance for your participation.