Grasslands are among the most vital and varied habitats on the planet. Species-rich grasslands offer ways of reducing the effect of greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Healthy soil acts as a carbon sink - grasslands hold around a third of the earth’s carbon. 

Three of the UK’s leading conservation charities - the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation and Plantlife - came together to form Grasslands+, a coalition to protect and restore these crucial habitats.

89up launched the coalition, developing its core narrative and visual identity, building the coalition’s website and implementing a PR and public affairs campaign to highlight the importance of grasslands in mitigating climate change and promoting biodiversity. 

We secured support from more than 80 organisations including the RSPB, Greenpeace, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Rewilding Britain and Botanic Gardens Conservation International. 

Using our Start A Fire campaign platform, we built a petition site that allowed the coalition’s supporters to contact their MPs directly in the run-up to COP26.

We facilitated a meeting between the coalition and the Conservative Environment Network, a highly influential pressure group counting more than half of Conservative MPs in membership. In addition, we delivered pollinator-friendly wildflower seeds to every MP in the country which led to Kirsty Blackman MP reaching out to the coalition directly and Andrew Griffith MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, sharing the campaign on Twitter. 

We also secured coverage for the campaign on flagship broadcast outlets BBC Breakfast and the Today Programme as well as coverage in the Independent and New Scientist.