The campaign – Bee Friendly – was launched today by the Channel Island Pollinator Project, which is urging Channel Islanders to use their time in lockdown to set aside at least 10% of garden space or land for pollinators.
And if you do not have a garden, then wildlife areas can be created in window boxes or containers in a back yard.
To get it started, the group has produced an animated film released today on YouTube and narrated by JEP nature correspondent Bob Tompkins.
He said: ‘There has been a massive decline in [local] pollinating insects in the past 50 years owing to a wide range of human activities among which is the way our hedgerows, field edges, verges and parks and gardens have become neglected and denuded of wild flowers.
‘Pollinators are vital for supporting food production directly through pollination, as well as the production of honey and various related products.
‘Given that there are other major threats to pollinating insects from such things as the arrival of the Asian hornet, they need all the support we can give them.’
As pollinators – such as bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, hoverflies and ants – feed from blossom and flowers, they provide a process that allows plants to produce fruit, seeds, and the next generation of greenery, all of which is essential for one-third of the human food chain.
The animation and the project’s website contain tips on how to help pollinators survive by planting bee-friendly wildflowers, making gardens pesticide- and weed-killer-free zones and building bug refuges from branches and twigs, old cupboards and even biscuit tins.
The initiative is a partnership between environmental groups in Jersey and Guernsey.
Tim Ransom, of the Société Jersiaise, said: ‘Pollinators are vitally important, and their decline should be of serious concern to us all.
‘The Channel Island Pollinator Project partners are extremely excited to launch this locally made animation to highlight to the community the important role of insect pollinators, what they provide and how you can help them.
‘We hope that this animation and other work through our project can improve the situation for all our declining insects.’
Today’s launch coincides with a United Nations’ appeal to people the world over to go bee spotting during the first three weeks of May and upload images to a special app. The results of the global survey will be published on World Bee Day – 20 May. Go to beescount.org to see how to take part.
The Bee Friendly film can be seen viewed below
