Bee Friendly Monmouthshire
Article
Bees for Development worked to establish the Bee Friendly Monmouthshire campaign in 2013 to address the dramatic decline in the numbers of bees and other pollinating insects including butterflies, moths and hoverflies, and indeed all insects in our home county of Monmouthshire.
The Bee Friendly Monmouthshire group is now helping to implement the Welsh Government’s Action Plan for Pollinators at county level. This Action Plan was drawn up to address the dramatic decline in the numbers of all pollinating insects. This decline is caused by:
- Habitat destruction – loss of hedgerows, woodland and wild areas
- Loss of natural food sources such as orchards, hedgerow plants and wildflower meadows
- Gardeners growing hybrid, double flowers that please the eye but provide no nectar or pollen for insects
- Intensive farming methods which have transformed the landscape
- Increased use of insecticides which harm beneficial insects and pests alike.
We campaigned for Monmouthshire County Council to adopt a Pollinator Policy, and indeed when it came into the force in 2014, the new Policy was signed at Bees for Development’s HQ.
Pollinator insects provide vital service to the environment – POLLINATION – which ensures the reproduction of flowering plants and produces seeds and fruits that we and other animals eat. The insects are vital to the food chain; they feed on the nectar and pollen produced by flowers, and birds and small mammals feed on them. The drop in insect numbers has had a severe knock-on effect on populations of wild birds and small mammals.
Hedgerow manifesto
Bee Friendly Monmouthshire published a Manifesto calling for wider appreciation of the value of hedgerows and described best practice for hedgerow maintenance. The Manifesto was presented by Dr Nicola Bradbear, Director of Bees for Development and Professor David Goulson from Sussex University who discussed bees and recent findings concerning pesticides in bee-friendly plants.
