POLLINATORS Pledge Your Garden for

By KATE CHANDLER

We have all heard that bees are in trouble, but in recent years, you can nd them everywhere: on T-shirts and tea towels, on stationery and socks, on cushions and keyrings, coasters, and clocks. e abundance of bees in our material culture re ects a surge of public interest in these important insects. If you were to use this as an indicator of the status of real bees, you would be forgiven for thinking they were thriving. But the real picture tells a di erent story.

On the island of Ireland, and across the world, bees and other pollinators are in decline. e primary reason for this is that we have drastically reduced the habitats that provide them with food and shelter. is is a huge problem not only for pollinators, but the animals that feed on the plants they pollinate, including humans. Of the 100 crops that provide 90% of the world’s food, 71 are pollinated by bees.

e solution to this problem is simple: we need to make sure our landscape supports them. is requires a collective e ort – local authorities, businesses, farmers, gardeners, and more, all have a role to play in taking the right actions to help save these important insects.

Who are our pollinators?

When I rst joined the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan team at the National Biodiversity Data Centre, I was astonished to discover that Ireland is home to over 100 di erent types of bee.

ey come in all shapes and sizes: fat, furry bumblebees who live in colonies, and smaller solitary bees who sometimes look more like ies or wasps and have wonderful names like orange-legged furrow bee’ and ‘chocolate mining bee’. About 20% of our wild bees are bumblebees and 80% are solitary bees. ere is only one honeybee in Ireland, which is not currently in decline. Unfortunately, more than half of these bee species have undergone substantial declines since 1980, with a third under threat of extinction in Ireland according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Some pollination is carried out by self-pollination or by the wind, but almost 90% of wild plants depend on pollination by animals. e most important of these pollinators are bees, so it’s easy to imagine the devastating e ect their loss would have on our landscape.

Actions For Pollinators Taken Per Sector

■ Pollinator friendly planting (1879)

■ Reduce mowing (1386)

■ Reduce pesticide use (1330)

■ Raising Awareness (1178)

■ Protect existing pollinator habitats (1111)

■ Provide nesting habitats (878)

■ Other (750)

■ Tracking progress (691)

■ Other actions taken for general biodiversity

Sites Per Sector On Actions For Pollinators

■ Local Communities (1096)

■ Business (849)

■ Gardens (761)

■ Council Action (389)

■ Schools (188)

■ Headquaters/Campuses

■ Group Water scheme Sites

■ Enviromental NGOs

■ Faith Communities

■ OPW

■ Golf Courses

■ Councils-Policy changes e primary reason for their decline is hunger. Most bees don’t make honey and so cannot store food. Instead, they rely on whatever they can nd in the landscape, which means they are only ever a few days away from starvation. Our landscape does not provide enough of the native wild owers, trees, and shrubs that they have evolved alongside, and are the best source of nectar (for energy) and pollen (for protein).

To help address this problem, the AllIreland Pollinator Plan was established in 2015. Implemented by the National Biodiversity Data Centre, this is a framework bringing together di erent sectors across the island to create a landscape where pollinators can survive and thrive. It provides a roadmap for creating a pollinator-friendly environment through evidence-based actions which are supported by over 100 governmental and non-governmental organisations. e rst version of the Pollinator Plan ran from 2015-2020, with 81 actions spanning di erent sectors. e second version began in 2021 and will run until 2025. It contains 186 actions to be delivered by partner organisations, building on the huge success of the rst Pollinator Plan.

Pledge Your Garden

One of our key campaigns is ‘Pledge Your Garden for Pollinators’. This is an invitation to anyone with a garden or green space to take simple steps to manage it for pollinators. It can be as easy as changing how frequently you mow your lawn, or planting bulbs like snowdrops and crocuses instead of bulbs with low pollen value like daffodils and tulips. Most of these actions are cost effective, and sometimes will even save money!

Each garden pledged for pollinators becomes part of a network of sites on the Actions for Pollinators online map (https://pollinators.biodiversityireland. ie). This helps us build a picture in real time of where and how the landscape is being managed for pollinators.

Since the scheme began, we have been thrilled by how many people have pledged their gardens and other outdoor spaces for pollinators. As well as gardens, other categories on Actions for Pollinators include local communities, sports clubs, businesses, faith communities, councils, schools, group water schemes, and golf courses.

As of January 2023, there are 3,352 sites on the map. Currently, the category with the greatest number of sites is local communities, with 1,096 sites as of January 2023, followed by businesses (848 sites), and gardens (761 sites).

This is a huge achievement shared by everyone who has already taken part. But we have much further to go. We would love to see this map become a sea of red dots, each representing a crucial sanctuary for pollinators. If every Irish Wildlife Trust member pledged a garden for pollinators, or spread the word to someone with an outdoor space, this would add an additional 4,000 sites to the map, bringing us closer to our goal of creating a joined-up network of beefriendly sites all over the island of Ireland.

But how exactly can you help pollinators in your garden? Sometimes, all the advice out there can be overwhelming, so we have made some simple, evidence-based recommendations to help you make the right choices for pollinators and for you.

The good news is we know these actions work. Whilst the general trend across Ireland still shows that bees are in decline, we have seen local populations increase in areas where land has been managed in line with our recommendations. This is hugely encouraging, and proof that if enough people get involved we can create a landscape where pollinators can survive and thrive.

Here are a few simple things you can do to help:

• Protect existing habitats

The very first thing to do is check if there are already sources of food and potential nesting sites in your garden. If so, these might already be a lifeline for local bees. Look out for naturally occurring wildflowers, native flowering hedgerows or trees, wild areas, and patches of bare soil.

• Mow less Wildflowers can’t thrive in most lawns because the soil fertility is too high. Mowing less – even once every six weeks - and removing grass cuttings reduces the soil fertility over time and allows native wildflowers like Dandelions and Clover to grow naturally. Even leaving patches of unmown grass here and there can make a difference. Why not take part in ‘No-Mow-May’ and leave your lawnmower in the shed for a whole month?

This is far cheaper and more effective than sowing wildflower seed mixes, which often contain non-native plants like cornflowers and can inadvertently introduce invasive species. Patience, not packets!

• Plant pollinator-friendly owers and herbs

Just because you’ve pledged your garden for pollinators doesn’t mean it can’t also be beautiful. ere are plenty of colourful owers and herbs that are rich in nectar and pollen. Visit the resources page on the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan website for lists of pollinator-friendly plants. Make sure you keep these plants to your garden and don’t plant them in the wider landscape.

• Provide nesting habitats

Most bees don’t live in hives. Wild pollinators nest in hedgerows, wild areas, dry stone walls, and even in the ground. Bumblebees tend to forage within 1km of their nest, and solitary bees only a few hundred metres, so it is crucial that they have places to nest near their food. Making a nesting habitat can be as simple as scraping back south-facing bare earth for mining solitary bees, leaving some areas to grow wild, or simply drilling holes 10cm deep in unvarnished wood for cavity-nesting solitary bees.

• Stop using pesticides

One of the best things you can do for pollinators is stop using pesticides. ese potent chemical cocktails have been found to kill, harm, and disorientate pollinators. ‘Weeds’ such as dandelions are o en vital sources of food (records last year showed that dandelions were the number one favourite food for both bumblebees and solitary bees in Ireland).

• Help spread the word Change happens when word spreads. ere are loads of free resources and materials on the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan website, including posters, planting lists, guidelines, and signage templates that can help you make your garden, community, business, sports club, or school pollinator-friendly. If you don’t have a garden yourself, why not make a pot for pollinators to put on your balcony or windowsill? Or get involved with a local Tidy Towns group to enter the annual Pollinator Award?

In his introduction to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2021-2025, Minister for Heritage Malcolm Noonan said: “In an era defined by the great environmental challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change, it has never been more important to remember that the most powerful antidote to despair is action.” We have the proof that when we choose to take positive actions, we can make a huge di erence for pollinators. Every piece of land, no matter how small, can be part of the solution, and together we can create a landscape where pollinators can survive and thrive.

• Track your progress e only way we will know if this hard work is paying o is if we track pollinator numbers. e easiest way to do this is by conducting a FlowerInsect-Timed Count (or FIT Count) between April and September. is involves watching a patch of owers and counting how many insects visit in ten minutes, and is easy to do on the FIT count app.

Kate Chandler is the communities & engagement pollinator officer with the National Biodiversity Data Centre. If you want to pledge your garden for pollinators by adding it to the Actions for Pollinators map, go to https:// pollinators.biodiversityireland.ie and click ‘Sign up’.