Children dressed as bees will be on Gentleman’s Walk on Saturday 12th
March at 12 noon helping the ‘Greener Spaces’ community group and
Norwich Green Party give away packets of seeds for FREE! The team will
be talking to people about gardening for wildlife and how vital it is to
help bees and other insects by planting wildflower seeds, particularly
in built up areas like Norwich.
Green Party activist Julie Young said:
“Since the 1930s the UK has lost 97% of its wildflower meadows and many
wild bee populations have declined. Around 70 crops in the UK depend on
or benefit from bee pollination so their health and well-being is vital
for food production. It is estimated that it would cost UK farmers £1.8
billion a year to pollinate their crops manually if wild bees
disappeared.
“Planting these easy to grow wildflower seeds will feed and encourage
both wild and honey bees. They also provide vitally important food to
bees passing through urban areas. They fly to and from the surrounding
countryside along flight paths or ‘b-lines’, many of which have been
mapped as passing through and around Norwich.”
‘Seeds for Bees’ is part of the campaign Norwich Green Party has been
running with the Greener Spaces community group to promote biodiversity
and improve green spaces in the city. The seeds being given out have
been carefully selected to include over twenty-five nectar rich and
colourful species which will provide a floral feast both for the bees
and for us.
They are easy to grow, even in containers. Best sown in bare soil in a
sunny position, they really don’t take much looking after apart from
being watered as needed. Then once they start flowering the bees, plus
other insects like butterflies, will find them.
Green Party councillor Jamie Osborn said:
“A range of threats from our modern, industrialised world is affecting
the abundance and diversity of bee species. Research shows that nearly a
quarter of Europe’s bumblebee species are now threatened with
extinction.
“Habitat fragmentation, when parts of a habitat are destroyed leaving
behind smaller unconnected areas, is generally thought to be the most
important factor driving bee decline. So by planting these seeds and
providing food for bees along their ‘b-lines’ we can all help make a
difference.”
Photo opportunity
12 noon, Saturday 12th March at the Gentleman’s Walk end of Haymarket,
opposite Primark.
Further information/interview
Peter Cutting plasticpeter@verrotech.com 01603 501504
