Caithness residents asked to Bee the Change to help bumblebees

The Bumblebee Conversation Trust (BCT) is on a mission to help everyone Bee the Change in Caithness with a new campaign launched today (March 18) asking people across the UK to take simple, quick micro-actions to make their postcode more bumblebee-friendly.

Bumblebees are familiar and much-loved insects that pollinate our crops and wildflowers. But bumblebees are in trouble and need our help. Over the past century our landscape has lost millions of the flowers they rely on to survive.

Through the campaign, people will pledge to Bee the Change and carry out quick and simple micro-actions like spotting nearby bumblebees, growing bee-friendly plants, creating wild bumblebee havens, and spreading the #BeeTheChange message with their friends, families and local communities.

Throughout 2021, the BCT will supply downloadable free resources and how-to guides helping everyone to Bee the Change wherever they live.

Anyone can take part, whether they live in the city or the countryside, and whether they have a garden, a flowerpot or no outdoor space at all.

Chloe Headdon, BCT project officer, said: “By taking simple actions for bumblebees, together we can get these pollinating superheroes buzzing again and make a big combined change for nature. Everyone can help these amazing insects by pledging to Bee the Change.”

The campaign has been inspired by recent research for the BCT which showed that six in 10 UK adults think "bees dying off" is a very serious issue – a similar number of people to those with concerns about climate change and deforestation.

The same survey revealed over half of UK adults are aware and concerned about the consequences of biodiversity loss in their local area, and would plant a variety of flowers to feed bumblebees. Just over a third indicated they would like to learn more about bumblebees online.

Everyone can make their Bee the Change pledge online at bumblebeeconservation.org/beethechange

WATCH: Conservationist discovers one of the UK’s rarest bumblebees near John O'Groats

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