The drastic loss of flower-rich grasslands is linked to a serious decline in insect populations, and concern is especially growing about bees. 98 per cent of lowland species-rich meadows have been lost since 1930s, and wildflower-rich habitats on which healthy insect populations depend have all but disappeared.
One in three mouthfuls of the food we eat comes from foodcrops pollinated by bees or other insects. The service they provide is worth an estimated £430m a year to the UK economy.
Bees in the wild are in trouble. Two species of bumblebee have gone extinct in the UK over the last century, and a further six species are a serious conservation concern. Some species of solitary bee, hoverfly, butterfly and moth are also in decline. Harmful chemical pesticides and fertilisers are implicated as well as habitat loss.
Recent research is indicating a more insidious threat. According to the latest Government-commissioned Countryside Survey - a health check of habitats across the UK - it's the small remaining fragments of good quality habitat that are losing wildflower species the fastest. This is spelling disaster for the insects which feed on them.
The survey has revealed that over the past 20 years nectar-giving wildflowers have been increasingly crowded out by ranker, more competitive plant species. This overgrowth is occurring because of reduced management, and 'enrichment' by fertilisers and air pollution. Without the nectar and pollen wildflowers provide, the insect pollinators on which we all depend cannot survive.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPRING APPEAL!
Plantlife is taking urgent action to conserve and protect wild plants, and we are working hard on the restoration of our native wildflower populations. Because we work with the grain of nature, we do not advocate quick-fix, short-term seeding solutions.
Your additional support will enable us to:
Carry out more ambitious conservation programmes across a range of threatened habitats, such as the work we are doing to save rare species in Breckland.
Campaign and speak up with a stronger voice for wild plants to policy-makers in the Westminster Parliament, Welsh Assembly, and Scottish Parliament, and through the media.
Strengthen the protection of the best botanical 'hot spots' by implementing our strategic approach, the landscape-scale Important Plant Areas.
Further improve the quality of wild plant knowledge and data, so that smarter action can be taken in the future.
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A MORE CRITICAL TIME TO ACT. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US.
