Multi-million pound bee project gets green light from EU

Scientists working on the project will develop bespoke seed mixes and habitat management guidelines to support the suite of pollinators required for 14 crop types across 72 demonstration sites.

Sites for each crop will showcase best management practices and training materials which will be developed for biodiversity monitoring and measuring pollination.

Empower

The same agroecosystems occur across the North Sea Region and transnational cooperation will also give economies of scale for development of these novel tools.

The approach will empower land managers to adopt pollinator management as a routine practice, fostering a bottom-up, land manager approach, creating a legacy to ensure continuing improvements for insect pollination of food crops.

Project coordinator Professor John Holland, who is head of farmland ecology at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), said: “We know that wild pollinators are declining because of loss in flower-rich habitats – and this needs changing.

“We will work closely with farmers to develop solutions that not only help the bees but will also improve their crop’s pollination.”

The GWCT, a Fordingbridge-based charity which aims to make the countryside rich in game and wildlife, is the project’s lead partner.