Scotland’s Buzzing!

Bumblebee on Harebell © Claire Pumfrey

‘Scotland’s Buzzing!’ was an exciting project that promoted the importance of local greenspace for pollinating insects to school children, community gardens, landowners and others.

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Quick Facts:

  • Name of Project: Scotland’s Buzzing!
  • Duration of Project: 2017 – 2021
  • Location of Project: Scotland
  • Species that benefitted from project: Pollinators and other invertebrates.
  • Project funded by: NatureScot

Pollinators face significant pressure across the UK due to factors such as habitat loss and there is a lack of understanding of the importance of the role pollinators play in ensuring a healthy environment. Areas of local greenspace, when managed appropriately, often act as important ‘stepping stones’ allowing the movement and mixing of individuals and species across an area. Well managed areas of local greenspace are known to play an important role in maintaining healthy populations of pollinators in urban areas. Local greenspaces are also important for people! The use of outdoor space for learning and exercise by children and adults has a number of known benefits to our health and well being.

The ‘Scotland’s Buzzing!’ schools programme took children out of the classroom to their local area of green space. Schools across Scotland were involved in the project which led sessions packed with fun and engaging activities for pupils to learn about pollinators and the habitats they require. The programme provided advice and support to teachers, encouraging schools to continue the use of their local greenspace for outdoor learning and exercise.

Throughout the project, Buglife also worked with community gardens to train volunteers on how to identify and monitor pollinators, ran training workshops on an introduction to different pollinators and as well as workshops for landowners on how to create and manage wildflower and grassland meadows.

Lennoxtown Primary Session © Julie Dryden

Scottish Mason Bees Project

The Scottish Mason Bees project raised awareness of mason bees and others through workshops and surveys as part of ‘Scotland’s Bussing!’. The project focussed on three rare species of mason bees, the Mountain Mason Bee (Osmia inermis), Wall Mason Bee (Osmia parietina), Pinewood Mason Bee (Osmia uncinata) and a ruby-tailed wasp, the Northern Osmia Ruby-tailed Wasp (Chrysura hirsuta), which is known to parasitise the nests of the three bees.


Pinewood Mason Bee (Osmia uncinata) © Stewart Taylor

This project was funded by NatureScot.

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