Plans underway for major Peak District and Derbyshire pollination project

Pictured: Pollinating the Peak team at Chatsworth Country Fair (left right: Education Officer Ida Griffiths, Community Development Officer Rhodri Green, volunteer Dylan Green)

Plans underway for major Peak District and Derbyshire pollination project

A major project led by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund is being developed to transform the Peak District and Derbyshire into a pollination hotspot.

Pollinating the Peak will highlight the importance of bumblebees and other wild pollinators, and what people can do to help secure the long-term future of these charismatic insects.

A busy summer and autumn schedule has seen the Pollinating the Peak team attending many local events, including Chatsworth Country Fair, and engaging with hundreds of people to raise awareness of the project, which will formally launch in 2018.

Partners in the initiative are Chatsworth, Chesterfield Borough Council, Derbyshire County Council, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Little Green Space, Moors for the Future Partnership, Peak District National Park, and Visit Peak District & Derbyshire.

“We want to inspire people across the Peak and Derbyshire area to get involved with this exciting project – and to help our vital wild pollinators by improving habitats, monitoring bumblebees and creating buzzing communities,” said Sally Cuckney, Pollinating the Peak Development Manager.

Together with the project’s Community Development Officer, Rhodri Green, and Education Officer, Ida Griffiths, Sally has also been working with local authorities and partners on plans for the project – including to improve pollinator habitats and to encourage people to help through bee-friendly planting in their own gardens.

The team has also been liaising with secondary schools over plans for an innovative and fun educational programme. They are keen to hear from other schools interested in getting involved, and are recruiting volunteers to help at events and train people in bee identification.

Bumblebees help pollinate many of our crops, but their populations are crashing – mainly due to loss of flower-rich habitat. Climate change, disease and pesticides may also be major threats.

Pollinating the Peak has been made possible by a Heritage Lottery Fund award of £150,000 to help develop the project, with another £700,000 earmarked for a later date.

For more details, visit bumblebeeconservation.org, email ptp@bumblebeeconservation.org and follow @BuzzingPeak on Twitter.