At the start of National Pollinator Week Buglife and Avon Wildlife Trust are pleased to announce the successful restoration of the first 100 acres of wildflower-rich grassland via the West of England B-Lines project. By connecting our best wildlife sites, the project is helping to boost populations of bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects.
Clare Dinham, Buglife Conservation Officer, said “Bees and other pollinators are disappearing from our countryside because we have lost 97% of the UK’s wildflower-rich grasslands since 1945. By creating B-Lines we can help wildlife move across our countryside, saving threatened species and making sure that there are plenty of pollinators out there to help crops grow.”
The West of England B-Lines project aims to create rivers of wildflowers across the countryside from the Cotswolds to the Mendips, from the coast to the hills, and from our towns and cities to the countryside. The project has been working with farmers, landowners and the public to create and restore wildflower-rich grasslands and put the buzz back into our countryside.
Janice Gardiner, Conservation Programmes Manager at Avon Wildlife Trust said, “We have made a great start in restoring wildflower grasslands for wildlife and for people, connecting our wildlife sites along the B-Lines routes, but we urgently need more sites. If you have land which you are interested in restoring to wildflower-rich grassland, or if you would like to volunteer for the project, please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.”
Thanks to funding from Cory Environmental Trust in Britain, Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust, Biffa Award, SITA, Natural England, D’Oyly Carte Foundation Trust, The February Foundation, South Gloucestershire Council, Bristol City Council and Wessex Water, the B-Lines project has worked directly with landowners, provided advice and training and created and restored meadows and wildflower-rich grasslands along the B-Lines routes.
