A Green Team and a Biodiversity Champion for your business site(s) (Action 29 Businesses: actions to help pollinators) can be helpful drivers to build knowledge and capacity around biodiversity and nature.

A Green Team/Biodiversity Champion can provide:

• A support to a busy Sustainability/ ESG team offering inspiration, momentum and resources.
• A voice for biodiversity and nature On-site even if those participating don’t have an environmental or scientific background.
• An extra set of eyes for local community sponsorship or in-house projects, meaning your business is less likely to misstep or make decisions based on false assumptions.
• And the great thing is you don’t need to know anything about pollinators at the start of your journey!

The following are suggested steps a Green Team/Biodiversity Champion might consider taking in line with the AIPP guidelines Businesses: actions to help pollinators.

Top Ten actions for Green Teams

1. Encourage your business/organization to sign up as a business supporter to the evidence-based All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.
2. Ensure On-site actions taken are in line with Businesses: actions to help pollinators and the Scoring Checklist (Page 34-35). N.B. Don’t strip out a native meadow to plant native trees. Meadows through reduced mowing (and lifting cuttings) are an amazing habitat for pollinators in their own right!
3. Signpost colleagues to companion resources for planting e.g., AIPP’s Top Ten pollinator-friendly plants for different situations AND maintenance AIPP’s How-to-guide for e.g. native hedgerows. N.B. Ensure the provenance of native trees is from the island of Ireland. A Blackthorn from central Europe will flower at the wrong time of year for our pollinators.

Support the Sustainability Team to:

4. Develop thematic places for pollinators (sensory, herb, moon or rainwater planter).
5. Create a biodiversity walking trail, a pollinator-friendly car park or invite business park neighbours to join you on this biodiversity journey.
6. Ensure sponsorship and procurement are in line with an AIPP evidence-based biodiversity action.
7. ‘Pledge Your Garden’ (pots/planters) for pollinators and encourage colleagues to do the same.
8. Learn about pollinators and other biodiversity through free online courses, webinars and workshops.
9. Submit Flower-Insect-Timed Counts (FIT Counts) – entry level/no experience necessary – or join the Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme to understand if actions are working On-site or at home.
10. Align monthly communications with the AIPP’s Key Campaigns and Messages and follow us on socials – Instagram @allirelandpollinatorplan

REMEMBER – TWO THINGS TO BE AWARE OF

Wildflower Seed Mixes – not a biodiversity action

• To sow wildflower seed mixes (or gift/sponsoring packets or seed-ball-type-products) is NOT a biodiversity action, it is a horticultural action.
• Non-native mixes may contain invasive species such as Black Grass, potentially devastating for our agricultural land. Native mixes may have a high percentage of annuals which as the name suggests will require re-sowing next year! Please avoid ANY type of spraying of herbicides if considering. 
• AIPP recommends – Reduced Mowing (and lift cuttings), which over time supports 1400 species of invertebrate. A wildflower seed mix only supports 40 species of insects see Page 6 tableMeadow-Guideline-2023-WEB.pdf. If you do need to sow, consider a fine-leaved grass seed mix and then reduced mowing per Page 10 of Businesses: actions to help pollinators.
• When gifting, rather than wildflower seed mixes, consider early spring/autumn bulbs, sunflower seeds or herb packets selected from this guideline Top-Ten-pollinator-plants-Guide-WEB.pdf

Honeybee Hives – not a biodiversity action

• Introducing/managing a honeybee hive/apiary is a wonderful hobby but NOT a biodiversity action. The honeybee is a managed pollinator and not under threat on this island. Increasing numbers may create competition for food for our 100+ wild pollinators.
• Already have hives? Please don’t increase numbers but choose alternative pollinator-biodiversity actions.Thinking of introducing hives? PLEASE SEEK EXPERT ADVICE.
• Thinking of a green roof/green wall? Only the very strongest of our wild bees will fly higher than the second floor. Be clear what your green roof will achieve e.g. for insects other than pollinators, for climate adaptation (e.g. To mitigate against ‘heat island effect’).