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Natu Naturree / B / Bio iodive diverrsity sity
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A plan to pollinate all of Ireland 100 crops provide
How Ireland aims to protect its pollinators – and fertile farmland
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reland’s bees are in trouble. Unfortunately, they share this predicament with the native bees of many other EU countries. In Ireland, this problem was recognised several years ago, and a comprehensive master plan was drawn up to ensure that plants could still be pollinated in a natural way based on stable and healthy bee populations. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan was launched in 2015 for a period of 5 years. The message was clear: »One third of Irish bee species are threatened with extinction. We know this because we have drastically reduced the areas where they can nest and the amount of food our landscape provides for them. We can stand back and watch this happen, or we can try to do something.« The plan consists of different groups of stakeholders. It includes farmers, councils and communities, businesses, public gardens, schools, faith groups and those operating transport corridors. They reflect on how to make the plan effective – after all, it is about creating space and protecting it.
81 individual actions For each of the different stakeholders, the plan offers a set of different actions that can help give pollinators the right environment to get their work done. The list includes 81 individual actions, which are assigned to five objectives. The participating organisations are encouraged to register their actions in an online mapping system that provides transparent monitoring and allows ideas to be exchanged nationwide.
90 % 71
of the world’s food
crops are pollinated by bees
Five clear objectives have been formulated: Making Ireland pollinator friendly
1 (farmland, public land & private land) Raising awareness of pollinators and
2 how to protect them
Managing pollinators – supporting beekeepers
3 and growers
Expanding our knowledge of pollinators
4 and how pollination works
Collecting evidence to track change
5 and measure success pollinators.ie
Contact: sheena.denneny@dccae.gov.ie
