Several Belfast parks are to benefit from a £108,694 grant to create insect super highways as part of a UK-wide Buglife project.
'Belfast's Buzzing' is the first NI initiative hoping to deliver what's been dubbed B-Lines that will allow insects to move more freely through our towns, cities and countryside.
It aims to restore habitat for insect pollinators at Belfast parks including Barnett Demesne, Clement Wilson Park, Lagan Meadows, Mary Peter’s Track, Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park and Cavehill Country Park.
Read more: National award for badger baiting op protecting NI setts from criminal gangs
Supported with a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £108,694, Belfast’s Buzzing also involves Belfast City Council, National Trust and other landowners to restore grassland for pollinators along the B-Lines in Belfast.
The two-year venture, which started in July 2022, will focus on reducing the decline of pollinating insects in Belfast through planting native wildflowers and grasses, alongside the creation of other pollinator friendly habitat.
It will support threatened species including the Vulnerable Buffish Mining Bee (Andrena nigroaenea), the Endangered Red-tailed Cuckoo-bee (Bombus (P.) rupestris) and the Near Threatened Small Blue Butterfly (Cupido minimus) amongst many other insects essential for the pollination of our wildflowers and crops.
Buglife Scotland & Northern Ireland Development Manager, Suzanne Burgess, said: "We all see wildflowers as beautiful and great for our well-being; for the thousands of pollinating insects that share this land with us, wildflowers are vital. But, there’s a problem. Pollinators are finding themselves in isolated oases, walled in by agricultural land, urban landscapes, roads, and gardens. What humans see as neat and tidy; insects see as desert!
"Buglife have come up with a beautiful solution to this problem – B-Lines."
Residents and visitors will be able to get involved through practical conservation volunteering, pollinator identification and monitoring workshops and community events – such as gardening for wildlife and nature walks. The project will also provide education opportunities; engaging with local schools and providing habitat creation and management advice to land managers, farmers, and local authorities.
Hannah Fullerton, Buglife’s newly appointed Northern Ireland Conservation Officer, said: "We are delighted to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players who are making Belfast’s Buzzing possible; giving us the opportunity to introduce our first B-Lines project to Northern Ireland. Transforming Belfast into an even friendlier place for pollinators and assist in the recovery of some of our important endangered species.
"Belfast’s Buzzing is a unique opportunity to enhance connections with landowners, charities and the public. Uncovering a new passion and excitement; encouraging everyone to get involved in protecting these amazing species living on their doorsteps."
Commenting on the award Dr Paul Mullan, Director, Northern Ireland at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “At The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we’re incredibly proud to be playing a role in ensuring our natural heritage is safeguarded for generations to come, but also that the projects we fund give people the chance to connect with the nature and wildlife in their area. We are thrilled to support Buglife who are working to reduce the decline of pollinators, create new habitat and give them a bee-line to the countryside via insect super highways."
Belfast’s Buzzing further builds on Buglife’s previous species recovery and monitoring projects across Northern Ireland, including Jewels of Lough Erne, surveying of the Narrow-mouthed Whorl Snail and pollinator monitoring.
If you would like to know more about B-Lines or get involved with Belfast’s Buzzing, please contact Buglife Northern Ireland via northernireland@buglife.org.uk
READ NEXT:
-
Freak NI weather shows 'need for urgent action' to implement Climate Bill
-
Council accuses Stormont Dept of 'breaching obligations' over mineral licences
-
DUP MP urged to 'look at the world around him' after heatwave hysteria comments
-
Record NI temperature marked in global WMO report on escalating climate crisis
