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The beautiful Great Yellow Bumblebee is now clinging on in small habitat fragments. It might disappear from the UK without help. |
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Bumblebees are fascinating and beautiful creatures that deserve conserving in their own right. However, there are also good ecological and economic reasons for looking after them. Bumblebees are major pollinators of our wildflowers. If bumblebees disappear then these plants will produce fwer seeds. This would result in sweeping changes to the countryside. Our countryside would lose its colour. Many rare plants might disappear. In fact, there is evidence that this process is already underway. These changes would have catastrophic knock-on effects for other wildlife. Butterflies, birds and mammals would all suffer if bees disappeared. Bumblebees are "keystone species" and they should be a conservation priority. Learn more about our conservation work - click here |
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Bumblebees are worth millions of pounds to the economy. They give us affordable "five-a-day" fruit and vegetables. Many crops depend on bumblebees for pollination to varying degrees. Beans, fruits, tomatoes and soft fruit crops all need insect pollination. In total the value of Europe's insect pollinators is estimated at €14.2 billion. Imagine if bee declines continued... We wouldn't starve, but we would have to eat much more rice, pasta and bread. A healthy diet would become much more expensive - perhaps unaffordable for some? Now imagine a different future, in which our towns and countryside are rich in colourful wildflowers and teeming with bees, other beneficial insects and a diversity of wildlife for everyone to enjoy... |
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So what should be done?We are passionate about conserving our remaining bumblebee populations, and trying reverse their declines. We need your help. Sadly, nature reserves are not enough on their own. Bumblebee nests are large and each nest needs a large area of flowery habitat. To support healthy populations, sensitive bee-friendly management needs to be carried out throughout the UK!
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The plight of the bumblebee - BBCT's Conservation Officer for England and Wales (Dr. Pippa Rayner) explains all about bumblebees, their amazing lives and what we can all do to help them |
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Saving the bumblebee - a video by independent filmmaker Jamie-Lee Loughlin Saving the Bumblebee from Jamie-Lee Loughlin on Vimeo. |