Saving the small things that run the planetThe Neath Port Talbot (NPT) B-Lines project ran from October 2020 – September 2023, and was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust & Milkywire. The project aimed to address the decline in our pollinating insects by creating a network of B-Lines linking wildflower-rich habitats across Neath Port Talbot, from Jersey Marine to Port Talbot and from Baglan to Neath.
Quick Facts:
Buglife Cymru worked in partnership with Neath Port Talbot Council, Swansea Bay University Health Board, housing associations, Swansea University, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, the Woodland Trust and others to restore, enhance and create habitat for pollinators across Neath Port Talbot, benefitting both pollinators, and the people that live, work and visit the area.
The Neath Port Talbot B-Lines project also worked with communities by supporting the involvement of local groups, schools and residents in the creation of these wildflower areas. A series of workshops and events helped to raise awareness of pollinating insects and the management of greenspaces for wildlife and there were plenty of volunteering opportunities to get involved with. Additionally, colourful urban wildflower meadows improved the quality of greenspace for people to enjoy, which in turn improves people’s health and well-being.
Neath Port Talbot is home to one of the rarest bees in the UK – the Shrill Carder Bee (Bombus sylvarum). Project partners Bumblebee Conservation Trust delivered training workshops to help volunteers identify and record bumblebees in the area and we encountered the Shrill Carder Bee!
The project was delivered across a range of habitats to connect the scattered fragments of our wildflower grasslands, brownfield sites, woodlands, coast and heathlands to provide forage, nesting and overwintering habitat for pollinators and other wildlife; linking wildlife sites and residential areas together providing opportunities for people to experience nature close to hand.
In Wales, pollinating insects and the wildflower habitats they depend upon have drastically declined. Since the 1930s we have lost 97% of the UK’s semi-natural grasslands due to changes in land-use, farming practices and urbanisation. Fragmentation of habitats leaves populations of pollinators and other insects marooned and unable to move in response to environmental change, such as climate change. Movement across the landscape is crucial for pollinators to be able to find food, shelter, nest and over-winter. We need habitats that are bigger, better and more joined up!
Below is a lovely animated story about B-Lines created in partnership with artist Tom Maloney and Class 5 at Sandfields Primary School.
For more information on Neath-Port Talbot’s B-Lines and how you can get involved, please contact [email protected]. If you have created your own pollinator ‘hotspot’ or know of an existing wildflower area, you can add them to our B-Lines Map
As part of the Neath Port Talbot B-Lines project Buglife worked with Bumblebee Conservation Trust to promote bumblebee identification and Bee Walk Training. Training sessions were recorded and one is available below to watch at your convenience.
“Neath Port Talbot B-Lines” was funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust & Milkywire
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