Page 14 - Bumblebee Conservation Trust Buzzword magazine winter 2020
P. 14

The project                                      The Welsh equivalent, ‘Natur am Byth’, is taking a

                                                                                        similar approach, bringing species conservation to
    Fowey Valley                       By Barnaby Smith,   effect                       the people across Wales. A funding application is
                                                                                        due to be submitted shortly.
                                       Public Engagement
                                                                                        Across the UK, the BeeWalk community has kept
                                       Manager
                                                                                        walking, where allowed, collecting that vital data
                                                                                                                                             Also available on google play
                                                                                        which enables all of us to see ‘How are the UK’s    Search ‘What’s that bumblebee?’
                                        Throughout 2020, our staff and volunteers       bumblebees doing?’ An update will be published in
                                        have been busy with existing and new            the annual BeeWalk report early next year.
                                        projects up and down the country. Here’s a      We are recruiting a Shrill Carder Bee Species
                                        little flavour of what’s been happening.        Recovery Manager to lead on the delivery of the
                                        First, we’ve had the exciting news of an        Shrill Carder Bee Conservation Strategy to ensure
  Pastures for Pollinators              extension into 2021 for both our Making a       the survival of this rare bumblebee.
                         West Country Buzz  Buzz for the Coast and Pollinating the Peak   Finally, work continues on the West Country Buzz

                                        projects (see more on page 3).
                                                                                        project and Short-haired bumblebee project into
                                                                                        2021.
                                        Down in Cornwall, the Fowey Valley
                                        Bumblebee Project has completed its
                                                                                        You can find out more on our current and
                                        first full field season with the supporting
                                                                                        bumblebeeconservation.org/our-projects/
                                        partnership of landowners, farmers, and         partnership projects on the Trust’s website at www.
                                        local businesses excited to see initial
                                        findings presented at a recent meeting. Up
                                        in Scotland, work has continued to save the     Bumblebees An introduction
                                        Great Yellow bumblebee, with a key moment
                                        being the finding, and filming, of a Great
                                        Yellow bumblebee nest, a most unusual, if
                                        not unique event. Over in Wales, staff have
                                        continued to advise farmers at the Calon
                                        Wen Milk Co-operative on the ‘Pasture for
                                        Pollinators’, a partnership project led by
                 Species on the Edge    six dairy farmers, which aims to increase
                                        bumblebee populations and forage production
                                        by planting multi-species leys on their farms.

                                        Also in Scotland and Wales, development
                                        work is well underway on two successors to
                                        the hugely successful Back from the Brink
                                        England project. The Trust recently employed
                                        a Development Officer to take forward work
                                        on ‘Species on the Edge’, an exciting new
                                        partnership project which will target around
                                   BeeWalk  40 species found in seven project areas on     On sale for £10 at www.bumblebeeconservation.org/merchandise
                                        Scotland’s coasts and islands.
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