Get Britain Buzzing

In 2011 Get Britain Buzzing, a campaign to highlight the crisis facing pollinating insects such as bees and hoverflies was launched by Buglife at The Royal Society in London. Germaine Greer, Tony Blair and Bill Oddie are amongst the people supporting the Get Britain Buzzing campaign.

We are now launching a seven point manifesto to support this campaign, to end the worrying decline in pollinator species across the UK and to enhance habitats, enabling a re-buzzing of the land.

One out of every three mouthfuls of our food depends on insect pollination. Pollination enables plants to fruit and set seed.

Bees, hoverflies and other insects visiting flowers, create apples, raspberries, blackcurrants, strawberries, pears, almonds, elderberries, cherries, blackberries…. and the flowers in our gardens and countryside.

It is estimated that 84% of EU crops (valued at £12.6 billion per year) and 80% of wildflowers rely on insect pollination.

It is becoming apparent that pollinator populations are fragile. Failure of the pollination system has already happened in parts of China and the United States. If current trends continue, we may not have enough wild pollinators for the crops that our growing population will require.

The 7 points are:

1. All pollinators valued for the service that they provide
2. Our pollinator populations properly monitored and understood
3. Pesticide use that harms pollinators reduced
4. Wildflower rich landscapes restored – B-Lines established
5. Declines in rare and threatened pollinator species reversed
6. Places for pollinators planned around people
7. Wild pollinators protected from imported parasites and diseases

Our YouTube ‘Get Britain Buzzing’ video provides a summary.