Today, Buglife has received £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project, Fife’s Buzzing, to take place across the Kingdom of Fife. This project will create colourful wildflower meadows for the benefit of wildlife and the enjoyment of people.
This project will create and enhance 16 species-rich wildflower meadows covering over 12 hectares from Dunfermline to Crail. Local community groups, school children and local residents will be invited to join in with the design, creation and management of these new wildlife friendly habitats. These meadows will be a great benefit to wildlife, especially pollinating insects and will also offer enormous benefits to people.
Buglife is the only organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates, and we are particularly concerned with the decline in pollinators across Britain. Over 3,000,000 hectares of flower rich grassland has been lost in the UK since World War Two. Large declines in UK pollinators and other invertebrates are related to the loss of this habitat. ‘Fife’s Buzzing’ has a vision to help reverse this trend by engaging with over 300 people to transform intensively managed amenity grassland across Fife into colourful wildlife rich grassland and healthier functioning ecosystems.
Commenting on the award, Suzanne Bairner said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund for the creation of meadows across Fife, not only for the benefit of wildlife but also for people.”
Fife Council’s Biodiversity Co-ordinator, Johanna Willi added “Fife Council is always looking to improve its parks and green spaces for wildlife and we are delighted to work with Buglife on this fantastic project.”
Colin McLean, Head of HLF Scotland, said: “This is an engaging project which will actively involve people in our natural heritage. Volunteers will have great fun while learning about the importance of these meadows, pollinators and other insects’ role in our biodiversity and how we can make sure they exist for future generations. HLF is delighted to be able to help people connect with the natural world.”
