Cornwall to keep that Urban Buzz

Wednesday 3rd April 2019

After a busy year, Buglife’s Urban Buzz Cornwall project has come to an end after working with local community groups to bring bees, beetles and butterflies into the heart of Cornish towns and smashing all of its targets!

Thanks to the enthusiasm and hard work of over 500 volunteers, 58 Buzzing Hotspots were enhanced for pollinators with wildflowers, bug-friendly garden plants and nesting habitat. Urban Buzz Cornwall brought colour to parks and spaces across Falmouth, St Austell, Truro and Wadebridge, thanks to the support of the town councils, Truro City Council, Cornwall County Council and the Eden Project.

Buglife is also pleased to announce that the joint winners of the Best Buzzing Hotspot for Cornwall are Falmouth Town Council, Cornwall County Council and Cormac for their work at Gyllyng Street in Falmouth. Runner Up awards have also been given to St Austell Town Council for their Buzzing Hotspot at Linear Park, Truro City Council for Truro Cathedral and Wadebridge Town Council for Jubilee Park.

Nationally the Urban Buzz projects enhanced over 325ha across 956 Buzzing Hotspots with the help of over 12,000 volunteers, across Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Falmouth, Ipswich, Leeds, Leicester, Plymouth, St Austell, Truro, Wadebridge and York.

Laura Larkin, Urban Buzz Cornwall Officer commented, “The Urban Buzz project has been a fantastic community effort making a real difference for our precious pollinators. It’s heartening that at a time of widespread insect declines around the world, the people of Cornwall have banded together to bring colour and wildlife back to their parks and open spaces! Thank you to all of the amazing volunteers, partners and funders”.

Gillian French, Head of Grants, Biffa Award said: “At a time when our natural world is in decline projects like this one couldn’t be more vital. It is fantastic to be able to support Urban Buzz and exciting to watch the work going from strength to strength. Brand new habitats are being created for pollinators and we can’t wait to see the impact this will have on local wildlife.”

Urban Buzz Cornwall was made possible thanks to the generous support of Biffa Award, People’s Postcode Lottery, Garfield Weston Foundation and the Eden Project.