Organisers of Lincoln’s first Pollinator Awareness Conference say that time is running out to save the bees.
In the UK the overall population of pollinators has decreased by 30% since 1980. In Europe, 9.2% of wild bees are threatened with extinction. Event organiser and Environment Officer Peter Harold thinks that if these trends continue, the damage may become irreparable.
“I think we’ve got ten years, it’s been a long time since things have started to go wrong and we can still make things right but we need to start now. If we do that, we can begin to reverse things.”
The conference has been organised by the Rotary Club of Lincoln Colonia, a local community-centred charity, and will take place on May 20th at the Lincolnshire Showground. It aims to increase awareness about the issues that are affecting the health of bees and other pollinators such as moths and butterflies.
Dr Tom Breeze, a researcher at the Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, identifies changes in land use, land management and the use of pesticides as the main threats to pollinators and agrees that wider change is needed.
“We already have many of the right tools and schemes such as habitat restoration and diversifying farming systems however the issue remains that these schemes only benefit some bees and only improve pollination services in a few areas.”
More information about the event can be found on The Rotary Club’s website or on this flyer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv1z-o7BvWU