Biodiversity-Strategy-January-2023

31 Pollinating insects such as bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies and other insects, play a vital role in our environment, ensuring that many crops and wild plants can produce fruit and set seed. People depend on pollinators and the important ecosystem services they provide. However, our pollinators are in decline with almost one third of the 99 different types of bees on the island of Ireland, threatened with extinction. Pollinators require flowering habitats like wildflower meadows, hedgerows, woodlands and agricultural areas to survive. Habitat loss, fragmentation, degradation, decline in wildflowers, pesticides, pests and diseases, have resulted in a decline in pollinators, resulting in biodiversity and economic loss. The annual value of pollinators is at least €53 million in the Republic of Ireland and £603 million in the UK. The Council has been undertaking a significant amount of positive work for pollinators such as our annual ‘Trees for Bees’ programme, delivering annual pollinator workshops with schools, and continuing commitment to the “Don’t Mow, Let It Grow” initiative. This initiative has allowed 35 Council sites to be managed as meadows and many more informal sites have been created across the district on roadside verges in partnership with the Department for Infrastructure. The Council is a formal partner in the All- Ireland Pollinator Plan; a shared plan of action that aims to help pollinators survive and thrive. The Council also supports the wide range of work being undertaken by the Pollinator Monitoring and Research Partnership (PMRP), who aim to establish how insect pollinator populations are changing. The Council will continue to work in partnership to deliver action for pollinators, rolling out annually the ‘Don’t Mow, Let it Grow’ programme, continuing to deliver pollinator workshops and training for schools and communities and engaging with the wider public through pollinator initiatives and advice giving. Council will seek out other opportunities to protect pollinators on Council managed estate such as creating or managing invertebrate earth banks or including bee bricks in building projects. To find out more about pollinators, actions you can take in your garden, farm or community, and plans to support biodiversity, visit www.pollinators.ie and ukpoms.org.uk . Onlineedition: ISSN2009-6852 Printedition: ISSN2009-6844 www.pollinators.ie ALL-IRELAND POLLINATOR PLAN 2 0 2 1 - 2 0 2 5 9.1 Theme 1: Pollinators All Ireland Pollinator Plan 2021-2025