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Green Lanes for bumblebees highlights

‘Green Lanes for bumblebees’ ran from By Izzy Knight, Fifth Continent Project Trainee
2017-2019 in South Kent, as part of
Kent Wildlife Trust’s Fifth Continent Project aims
project, funded by the National Lottery The aim of the project was to create and
Heritage Fund and managed by the improve the management of flower rich
Bumblebee Conservation Trust. The habitat for bumblebees, focusing on rare
project location expanded that being species conservation.
used within the Short-haired bumblebee
project, by bringing in a number of other To achieve the targets, we concentrated
areas Three successive six-month on four main areas;
trainees, Lucy Withers, Lucia Chmurova • Monitoring of bumblebee and
and Izzy Knight helped deliver targets wildflower populations
during this period with Dr Nikki • Creating, restoring and advising on
Gammans.
flower-rich habitat
• Recruiting volunteers
• Engaging with people about the
project and bumblebees.
Project outcomes
Amazingly, the targets were nearly all
met within the first year, and by the end
of the third, all had been exceeded.
Particular highlights include improving
management on 64km of B roads, setting
up 26 new BeeWalk transects, recruiting
11 volunteers and improving flower rich
habitat on over 360 hectares (one hectare
is the size of a football pitch). We worked
with councils, farmers, smallholders,
churches and other conservation-minded
groups. A key part of the success of
the project was the hard work put in by
our volunteers and the willingness of
landowners to work with us.

Photos: Top: Lucy Withers; Middle: Lucia
Chmurova; Bottom: Izzy Knight
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