Co-op finds dividend in creating habitats for hard-hit bees

The organisation has teamed up with wild plant charity Plantlife to find neglected plots of land which can be transformed with wildflowers and plants to support pollinators and benefit local communities.

People are being asked to nominate small plots of land and two or three areas will be shortlisted in each of seven regions.

The Co-operative’s members will then be encouraged to vote for the best site in each region.

The winning areas will be improved with planting by local volunteers led by Plantlife and communities will be provided with advice packs to help them look after the sites, which are designed to be low maintenance, over the long term.

Chris Shearlock, sustainable development manager at the Co-operative, said: “We all know of small areas of land in our communities that could do with a little TLC and this scheme will help to improve not only the local environment but also encourage all manner of pollinators.”

He said honeybee numbers in the UK had halved in the past 30 years, while the majority of butterfly and moth species had also been in decline. The reasons for the decline in the bee population remains unclear.

If there are further reductions in numbers of pollinators such as honeybees, which alone pollinate a third of food crops, the decrease could have a major impact on diets in the long run, he warned.

Mark Reay, head of development and fundraising at Plantlife, said all pollinators relied on wild plants for food.

“By doing what we can to maintain and restore our native wildflowers in the countryside and using our gardens and parks to grow wildflowers we are all doing our bit for nature,” he added.

“A rich diversity of wildflowers brings life back into our surroundings, both for us and the insects, animals and birds that rely on them.”

Internet users can nominate patches of land for the scheme online – at www.co-operative.coop/pollinatorpatches