West Midlands councils are being urged to do more to help Britain’s bees and other pollinators – such as cutting areas of grass less often in parks and roadside verges to allow wild flowers to grow.
Friends of the Earth and Buglife are urging local authorities to follow in the steps of Worcestershire County Council, which is in the process of developing a pollinator action plan.
Buglife and Friends of the Earth have produced a comprehensive guide for councils setting out policies that would help pollinators in their area. Habitat loss is a major contributor towards pollinator decline, and the guide includes easy, cost-effective measures to protect and restore pollinator-friendly habitats in their local areas.
One policy suggestion is reducing grass-cutting on road verges and areas in parks, and creating areas rich in wild-flowers. Many of the councils contacted say they are already taking action in this area – with some indicating this has also saved thousands of pounds each year.
Dorset County Council saves around £93k a year by only cutting rural road verges when needed, Burnley Borough Council estimates that it saves around £60,000 per annum from cutting back on grass-cutting to help pollinators, and Monmouthshire County Council estimates that the saving made from a reduction in highway verge mowing is approximately £35,000 each year.
Friends of the Earth and Buglife contacted all 27 English county councils. Of the 19 that replied:
• Two (Devon and Dorset) have pollinator action plans in place
• Four are in the process of drawing up action plans (Hampshire, Kent, Worcestershire and Somerset).
A number of councils have told Friends of the Earth and Buglife that they have pollinator action plans or are drawing one up (see below), and other local authorities are also taking steps to help pollinators - even though they don’t currently have plans to introduce pollinator action plans.
The introduction of local pollinator action plans is likely to prove popular with the public. A YouGov poll for Friends of the Earth and Buglife, published last year, revealed that nearly two thirds (63%) of the public agreed councils should be doing more to help protect our bees. And over 80 per cent (81%) of the public backed calls for councils to help Britain’s under-threat bees by cutting areas of grass less often in parks and roadside verges to allow wild flowers to grow.
Friends of the West Midlands campaigner Chris Crean said:
“Councils across the West Midlands have an important role to play in protecting our bees and other pollinators.
“It’s fantastic that Worcestershire county council is developing a pollinator action plan, and other local authorities are taking steps to help our under-threat bees - but we need every council to act.
“Measures such as allowing patches of grass to grow longer in parks and on road verges aren’t just good news for pollinators; they can save money for local councils too.
“From boosting precious wildlife habitat to encouraging residents to take action, our handy guide for local authorities sets out the action councils can take to help save Britain’s bees.”
Paul Evans, Buglife Pollinator Advisor, added:
“Although it is great to see more action being taken for pollinators there is so much more that could be done. Local authorities need to be leading the way, both by demonstrating good practice in their parks and verge management and by enthusing and helping their local communities to take action themselves.
“By developing a Local Pollinator Action Plan, local authorities can ensure that the needs of pollinators are considered across all their functions, and that positive action is embedded in their work into the longer-term.”
Dr Annabel King, Senior Ecologist at Dorset County Council said:
“We are very proud to be one of the first local authorities to produce and implement a Pollinator Action Plan. The Plan is integral to delivering our NERC Act 2006, Biodiversity Duty and is specifically aimed at helping all pollinators, including bees, butterflies and moths, numbers of which have declined severely in the last 50 years.”
“The Plan has enabled us to make significant savings - we save around £93k a year by only cutting rural road verges when needed, allowing wildflowers and grasses to flower and set seed.
“We also never use topsoil when creating new road verges anymore, as subsoil results in wildflower rich grass which is of greater use to pollinators and costs less to manage. On the Weymouth Relief Road, this method has resulted in management costs of £500 per year, as opposed to an estimated £2700 if the verges had been spread with topsoil.”
