To mark World Bee Day today, the Channel Islands Pollinator Project is asking Islanders to track insects for the Pollinator Monitoring Scheme, a UK initiative that is currently examining the changes and decline in pollinating insects across the British Isles.
Research ecologist Nina Cornish said: ‘We are inviting the public to become citizen scientists to take part and help us track changes in pollinator numbers.
‘We are seeking wildlife volunteer recorders to help with surveys known as flower-insect-timed counts or “FIT counts”.
‘This is a ten-minute survey where you sit and watch insects and flowers.
‘This simple survey collects data on the total number of insects that visit a particular flower, ideally chosen from a list of 14 native target flowers.
‘FIT counts can be done anywhere, including in gardens and fields, in warm, dry weather, any time from April to September.’
The CI Pollinator Project is a partnership between environmental groups and the governments in both bailiwicks.
Pollination is a fundamental process for the survival of ecosystems. However, bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, bats and birds, are increasingly under threat from human activities.
Across the world, nearly 90% of wild-flowering plant species rely on animal pollination, along with more than 75% of the world’s food crops and 35% of agricultural land.
The CI Pollinator Project is using social media this week to reinforce its key messages, which include campaigning for Islanders to make over 10% of their garden space available for wildlife and asking them to grow bee-friendly plants.
In addition to 20 May being World Bee Day, Friday is International Day for Biological Diversity. Mrs Cornish said the group was keen to use such international events to remind Islanders of the worldwide importance of pollinators and the how they could help to halt the decline in species.
She added: ‘The islands have limited data on local pollinator populations, with reports and sightings often focusing on individuals of a species and not necessarily the bigger picture of numbers present. It is very difficult to see overall trends of increase and decline without a consistent monitoring process. Therefore, one of the project’s aims is to specifically champion insect biological recording, leading to a significant increase in the number of insect records held by the Jersey Biodiversity Centre and the Guernsey Biological Record Centre, to establish a pollinator-monitoring scheme to find out how insect pollinator
populations are changing in the Channel Islands.’
To find out how to take part in this nationwide survey, go to gov.je/Environment.
