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Busy Bees Week of Activity
(July 17, 2020)A Warminster ecologist is joined by a swarm of conservationists buzzing around the country this week to save endangered bumblebees in England from extinction which has been underway for six years on Salisbury Plain protecting pollinators from many threats to their survival.
“It's been ‘Bees needs week’ where Defra raises awareness of the importance of pollinators across the UK and their pollinators strategy with the help of stakeholders such as Bumblebee Conservation Trust which hosts the week on their website,” said Iain Perkins who works on Salisbury Plain and across the country in this field.
“The Buglife’s B-lines project has developed maps and plenty of guidance for local authorities, land owners and the general public.
“As in Wiltshire the MOD owned Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA) plays an important pollination belt that splits Wiltshire in two from east to west they actively manage the land to integrate military training with wildlife and historical conservation,” explained Iain.
“Much of this involves maintaining the flower rich chalk grassland, the largest in North-west Europe, that in turn supports a fabulous assemblage of pollinators including the Sainfoin bee (pictured left) where it is only found on Salisbury Plain," said Iain.
He works most closely with others on the 220 square mile military training area.
Busy Bees Activity
The Ministry of Defence owns 920 square miles of land nationally and in 2014 joined with Defra in their pollinators survival campaign supporting local 'busy bees' amongst communities.
“Recent surveys have shown that this iconic little bee is doing well right across the 20,000 hectares which are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Special Areas of Conservation and the entire SP is a Special Protection Area for birds, which is also good news! “ added Warminster resident Iain
One of the most endangered pollinator, the Shrill Carder Bee has suffered from a huge loss and massive fragmentation of its popular areas and their numbers have been slashed leaving them surviving in just five areas.
The sixth group, on Salisbury Plain, is thought to have been lost in the last decade but local conservationists is sparing no efforts to encourage the bees favourite conditions to return.
This bee has an easily spotted difference to bees more usually seen in family gardens.
It has a pale grey-green colouring with a black stripe between the wings and as the name ‘Shrill’ describes a very high-pitched buzzing noise.
The team effort that Iain and his bio-diversity colleagues are currently working on is getting this bee and many other pollinating insects the environment that they enjoy most restored around Salisbury Plain.
The MOD continues to work closely with statutory bodies and NGO’s to maintain and enhance the habitat for all pollinators and other rare species.