Red-tailed bumblebee (c) Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photography
B-Lines
Creating habitat for bees and other pollinators.
A project being delivered by Buglife, with our support.
Pollinating insects, such as, but not exclusive to, bees, are vital for our survival - we depend on them to pollinate our crops and thus feed us!
Disastrously, for both them and us, their numbers are in extraordinarily decline - for example, half of our 27 bumblebee species are declining in numbers, and three of these have, unfortunately, already gone extinct. The B-Lines project, led by Buglife aims to reverse this trend.
White-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) (c) Nick Upton/2020VISION
The aim is to create corridors of suitable pollinator habitat, such as wildflower meadows and road verges, that link up right across the UK. By increasing the amount and improving the connectivity of this habitat, pollinator species will be able to travel easier to find more food and mates, which will result in more food on our plates.
How are we helping with this project?
Shropshire Wildlife Trust has collaborated with Buglife to create and develop B-Lines within Shropshire.
Shropshire B-lines routes
Our Evidence and Data Officer, Joe Phillips, attended workshops to identify the most suitable location for the B-Lines to be placed, the results of which can be seen in maps.
This maps display habitats of differing quality for pollinators, from good to excellent, in addition to showing the connectivity of these areas of habitat.
The next step is to utilise these maps to prioritise work restoring and creating pollinator habitat to areas within a B-Line, linking across Shropshire and the UK.
A Nature Recovery Network
The Wildlife Trusts are calling for laws to require all relevant parts of central and local government to work together to map, plan and create a Nature Recovery Network.
This aims to restore and create habitat of all kinds to benefit all species on a wide scale. Akin to B-Lines, the aim is to increase the amount of habitat, and improve how joined up areas of habitat are, both across the county, and the country. A Nature Recovery Network map will identify suitable areas for this work to be carried out. We will incorporate B-Lines in to this map to ensure pollinator species are well accounted for.
