To celebrate World Bee Day on the 20th May, the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is delighted to launch a new online course ‘Managing Communities for Pollinators’.
This free course is aimed at community groups who are interested in making their community pollinator friendly, such as Tidy Towns, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, Green Communities, community gardens, residents’ associations, and wildlife, environmental, or youth groups. From pesticide alternatives to plant lists, pollinator-friendly mowing tips to ideas on getting the wider community involved, this is a great resource for any community rural or urban, large or small.
Buzzing communities
On the island of Ireland, many of our habitats and species are in decline, including one third of our wild bees. This could affect the survival of our wild plants and many of our food crops.
In 2019 the Irish government declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency. Now more than ever it is crucial that we change the way we manage every corner of our landscape to support the natural world.
Pollinator numbers are in decline on the island of Ireland, but records from the National Biodiversity Data Centre show that local populations are increasing where actions are being taken to help them. This is thanks to different sectors coming together to transform their landscapes for pollinators, not least local communities.
Across the island of Ireland, community groups are working hard to transform manicured greens into buzzing native meadows, bare hedgerows into bursting displays of Hawthorn and Blackthorn, and pesticide-drenched borders into organically managed beds full of pollinator-friendly flowers.
This course draws on the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan’s ‘Local communities: actions to help pollinators’ to provide clear, evidence-based actions for any community, whether just starting out or already doing work for biodiversity.
Enroll for free here on Ireland’s Biodiversity Learning Platform:
Course: Managing Communities for Pollinators
Find out more
Course: Managing Communities for Pollinators
Local communities: Actions to Help Pollinators (PDF)
All-Ireland Pollinator Plan resources for communities