We invite Business Supporters to follow the specific evidence-based guidelines for Physical Actions within the following resources:

       

Businesses: actions to help pollinators (A-E) & Technical appendix is aligned to ISO14001:2015.

We are currently updating these to reflect the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and relevant information aligned to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). REVIEW FAQs for business.

Consider on your business site a Biodiversity Walking Trail or an Ecological Corridor.

COMPANION RESOURCES

Resources below provide further evidence-based information to support the Physical Actions A-E in Businesses: actions to help pollinators.

A – Protect what you have

Protect/enhance what is great already. Don’t get rid of an existing meadow to plant trees. Consider managing an existing Native hedgerow to support pollinators.

B – Reduce mowing

       

Reduce mowing, AND lift the cuttings to create naturally regenerated wildflowers – a vital food source for wild bees. Include SIGNAGE (free, downloadable, print-ready) and a mown perimeter strip. Editable ‘Let it Bee’ or ‘Meadow in Progress’ signage also available to include your business logo, website URL, or QR code.

• Considering a meadow? Identify specific habitat development for the Large Carder Bee.
• Is your business adjacent to coastal area/near dunes/machair (floral rich grasslands)? Consider specific habitat for the Northern Colletes. 
• Is your business located on the west coast (Mayo/Mullet Peninsula, north Clare, south-west Donegal and/or Connemara)? Consider specific habitat for the Great Yellow Bumblebee.

C – Pollinator-friendly planting

N.B. Sowing wildflower seed mixes is NOT a biodiversity action. Non-native wildflower seed mixes may contain invasive species such as Black Grass, potentially devastating for our agricultural sector. Native mixes may have a high percentage of annuals which you will need to re-sow next year! INSTEAD reduce mowing (see Point B – Reduce mowing above).

                       

D – Provide nesting habitats

REMEMBER To have honeybee hives or an apiary is NOT a biodiversity action. The honeybee is a managed pollinator and not under threat. To increase numbers may create competition for food for our wild bees. An apiary is absolutely fine if part of your core business, and is a wonderful hobby. Considering installing honeybee hives? PLEASE SEEK EXPERT ADVICE from your local beekeeping association.

E – Reduce/eliminate use of pesticides

• Review alternatives to pesticides.
• You will still need to spot-spray invasive species. Review advice at www.invasives.ie
• N.B. You can only say your business is Pesticide-free if you have FULLY eliminated pesticides. READ MORE HERE: Go Pesticide Free

Engage with affiliate conservation projects such as Ponds for Conservation.

F – Communication Actions

We encourage businesses to deliver communication actions based on what is helpful for our 100+ wild bees.

• Invite Employees to ‘Pledge Your Garden’.
• Leverage Suppliers to sign up to AIPP.
• Engage with your local Community through Tidy Towns and other initiatives.

Track, Measure & Monitoring

• Not sure what’s on your site? Commission a baseline ecological survey from the Chartered Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management and repeat every 3 or 5 years.
• Map your evidence-based actions on Actions for Pollinators (GIS).
• Record and monitor what is on your business site(s) through the simple Flower Insect Timed (FIT) Counts and/or the Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme.
• Identify what is on and adjacent to your site through Biodiversity Maps.
• Review other biodiversity monitoring schemes and conservation projects and national biodiversity indicators.

CONSIDER SPECIFIC HABITAT DEVELOPMENT

              

READ MORE on our endangered pollinators here: Great Yellow Bumblebee, Northern Colletes and the Large Carder Bee. N.B. If you are allowing a meadow to develop then the Large Carder Bee resources may prove helpful.

SECTOR SPECIFIC RESOURCES

                            

REVIEW: Green Toolkit GAA Green Club – Biodiversity

       

CONSTRUCTION – Housing: New Developments

Cluid’s Landscaping and Biodiversity Guide for New Developments, with biodiversity actions endorsed by the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan includes: Preplanning checklist: Habitat survey, Invasive species, Tree and hedgerow survey, Root Protection Areas (RPA), Full level survey, Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) etc. |  Design stage  |  Boundary treatment selections and their impact on biodiversity  |  Public infrastructure to protect and encourage biodiversity  |  Groundworks, Hard landscaping & Soft landscaping/plants  |  Amenities  |  Make apartment balconies and private gardens biodiversity-friendly  |  After-care programme for landscape works.

Asset Managers (residential): provide Residents’ Associations with the new Residents’ Associations – Actions for Pollinators.

 

AGRI-BUSINESS/PROCESSORS and farm-suppliers/growers, evidence-based actions, monitoring and recording:

  

• Farmland: actions to help pollinators guidelines and Biodiversity on Your Farm recording initiative (no experience necessary).
• Processors’ supply chains (farm suppliers/growers) step-by-step to help their supply chains understand which evidence-based actions to take to support pollinators.
• Farmers’ Wildlife Calendar – help support the tracking of what is happening to biodiversity (including pollinators) in relation to climate change.
• Engage with affiliate conservation projects such as Ponds for Conservation.