‘If everybody did a small bit it would make a huge difference’

The Commission says that the loss of wild pollinators is a serious cause for concern because around 80% of crop and wild-flowering plant species in the EU depend on animal pollination.

Without pollinators, many plant species will decline and eventually disappear, and this, in turn, will threaten the survival of nature, human wellbeing and the economy.

Here, at home, the All-Ireland Pollinator plan 2021-2025 has been launched and it sets out a five-year road map that aims to help bees, other pollinating insects and the country’s wider biodiversity.

The focus is on delivering more actions and encouraging a better way of managing the landscape to permanently support biodiversity.

One of the many issues facing this country is the decline of the Great Yellow Bumblebee - the rarest true bumblebee in Ireland - which has become an endangered species.

The only remaining population can be found in Co Mayo.

The loss of natural and semi-natural habitats has been a key driver in pollinator declines.

At its core, the pollinator plan is about providing food and shelter across all types of land so that Ireland’s pollinators can survive and thrive.

It has created a framework to bring together pollinator initiatives across the island so that through coordination and cooperation, the goals can be achieved.

The Plan’s six objectives include: making farmland pollinator-friendly; making public land pollinator-friendly; making private land pollinator-friendly; the creation of an All-Ireland Honeybee Strategy; conserving rare pollinators; and strategic coordination of the Plan.

Eleanor Attridge, Cork Beekeepers Association says that while the honey bee is “well managed”, there are numerous projects taking place across Europe to monitor them.

But, she adds, a lot of the other pollinators are in trouble “because their natural habitat and resources are being eroded”.

The Cork Beekeepers Association introduces people to beekeeping; it runs an eight-week course every October and in the spring participants are invited to the Apiary where they learn all about bees and the various plants and flowers they pollinate in.

“We introduce people to beekeeping as a hobby and some people are interested in improving the planting in their garden or want to gain a better understanding of what plants, flowers, trees and shrubs that the honey bee will work,” said Ms Attridge.

“The honey bee actually only works a simple flower; there are a lot of flowers, like the hydrangea for example where you will never see a honey bee.

“Their tongues are short and they can only reach the nectar in certain plants and flowers.

“So, the focus now is on improving the situation for pollinators.” 

Meanwhile, the pollinator plan provides everyone with the opportunity to become more aware of the small changes that can be made to improve pollination across the country.

“The plan is brilliant and is brought into schools - once the kids are learning they bring that knowledge home and all of this will be passed onto the next generation,” Ms Atrridge continued.

“There are over 100 different pollinators in Ireland and some of them are in decline.

“Everything depends on the habitats that are there for them; a simple change that can be made is to not cut hedges until the blackberry has finished flowering.

“Leaving the dandelions in the garden until all the pollinators are finished on them is also important.” Meanwhile, farming intensification over the years has led to the loss of pollinator habitats in this country.

In the dairy sector grass has become a “green desert” for pollinators because it is being grown specifically for milk production and nothing else - and so the bottom line is, there is nothing there for the pollinators.

“Even the clover that they are bringing in now is Dutch clover and a lot of the pollinators can’t work it,” Ms Attridge continued.

“Dairy farming has become the green desert for pollinators; if you go back over the last 25 years and look at the way the land has been managed you will see that ditches were removed and that took with it the natural habitat for bumblebees, moths and flies, etc.” But the damage done can be reversed, adds the bee expert.

It will mean incentivising and supporting farmers along the way though.

“We can get back on track; the new CAP reform needs to incentivise farmers to enhance biodiversity on farms and to make land more pollinator-friendly, especially around the headlands,” said Ms Attridge.

“We still have a lot of people in towns and cities who could do more by planting trees and shrubs that pollinators will work.

“If everybody did a small bit it would make a huge difference.”