RePollinating the environment
RePollinate’s purpose is to conserve, and improve prospects for the UK’s threatened pollinators
How can we do this?
BUILD spaces for pollinators to thrive by working with community groups, organisations and businesses. Each space will be different and cater to the specific environment it lives within, to ensure longevity of these gardens and the wildlife they support. We will plant herbs, shrubs and trees and restore natural wildlife and encourage a diversity of pollinators. We hope these will be spaces that both people and pollinators can enjoy.
EDUCATE the public on the environmental benefits of all types of pollinators and help us understand why they are important, and how we can all help protect them. This will include running education programmes with schools on the life cycle of a bee, and the importance of pollination. These will be interactive and will run throughout the school year. We will run courses on how to build your own wildflower garden.
ENGAGE the government to help develop strategies to protect our wildlife and guarantee a future for us all. We will also work with corporates to encourage better use of their land.
SUPPORT citizen science and scientific research around the protection of the environment. Not only will we donate to this research, but we will help promote and implement its findings
What are pollinators and why are they important?
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from one part of the flower of a plant to another. This pollen fertilises the plant causing them to make fruit and/or seeds, which we, and other animals, eat. Some of the most effective pollinators include bumblebees, solitary bees, wasps, honeybees, flies, moths, butterflies, and some beetles.
Did you know:
- Pollinators facilitate the reproduction in 90% of the world’s flowering plants and, worldwide, over half the diet of fats and oils comes from crops pollinated by animals.
- Without pollinators, the availability and diversity of fresh produce would decline enormously.
Why are pollinators in decline?
Loss of Habitat – Pollinators rely on their habitats to breed, nest and forage. Due to the expansion of urban areas, deforestation and increased land use whether for building or farming, we are losing many of these wild natural spaces pollinators need to thrive.
Pesticides – including weed killers can remove potential food plants and prey species for pollinators. Pesticide residue can be picked up by foraging pollinators and taken back to the nest/colony, proving fatal for some and sometimes the entire group.
Climate change – As we have seen in recent years, climate change is having an astronomical effect on our world and the life it supports, often changing the environment which they need to survive. This rapid change in environment means that many species cannot adapt quickly enough, and as a result are declining.
At RePollinate, we want to reverse this before it’s too late.