Press release

Drive to create 60 bee-friendly spaces launched

31 May 2012

Friends of the Earth is aiming to boost bees and other wildlife by creating 60 new green spaces in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

As part of the environment charity's campaign The Bee Cause, and to mark the Royal celebrations, Friends of the Earth is urging people to back its commitment to creating the bee-friendly patches in towns and rural areas across the UK.

The Bee Cause was launched in response to the recent alarming decline in bees - important pollinators responsible for much of our food, including most of our favourite fruit and vegetables.

A recent report by Friends of the Earth revealed that, alongside pesticide use, disease and climate change, habitat loss has played a big part in falling bee numbers. For example in the Queen's lifetime alone, hay meadows have declined by 97 per cent.

The Jubilee spaces will range from small urban strips to large rural meadows right across the country.

The project is part of a push from the charity to ask people to back one of its campaigns by planting their kiss on their favourite cause at www.foe.co.uk/kiss. Once 5,000 people have made their mark, work on the project will begin.

Alongside the Jubilee project, The Bee Cause is supporting people to be more bee-friendly in their gardens and communities. The charity is also calling on David Cameron to commit to a National Bee Action Plan.

Paul de Zylva, Nature Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:

"This is the year for saying 'long live the Queen Bee' - and our project aims to provide more of the flower-rich habitats British bees need to boost their declining numbers.

"Without bees we'd have to spend billions hand-pollinating our crops - meaning our diets, and our pockets, are much richer if we keep our bee populations healthy.

"Everyone can help bees by planting the right flowers and making Jubilee bee spaces - it's a great way to make the celebrations last."

ENDS

1. The Bee Cause campaign is supporting individuals to make changes in their gardens and communities to help bees, and calling on the Prime Minister to commit to a National Bee Action Plan. To support the call to David Cameron and find out what else you can do to help bees, visit www.foe.co.uk/bees.
2. To suggest a potential bee-friendly site please email: beeinfo@foe.co.uk. There will be different categories including for public parks, village greens, town centres and roadside verges.
3. It would cost the UK £1.8billion to hand-pollinate our crops every year, if we lost bees. Read the full press release from April here. 4. 97% loss of hay meadows - statistic taken from 'The Decline of England's Bees', released in May 2012 by Friends of the Earth - for more information visit www.foe.co.uk/beesreport.
5. To read a briefing on the report by Friends of the Earth on bees, click here.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust