COULD you help make 2018 The Year of the Bee in Oxfordshire?

Conservation charity Wild Oxfordshire hopes so: it has launched a new initiative to reverse the decline of the bumblebee in this county by harnessing what it calls ‘people power’.

Bumblebee numbers in the UK have been in decline for years, and Wild Oxfordshire has said it is attempting to reverse the decline of this iconic insect and other plant pollinators by raising the profile of their plight, providing practical advice on habitat creation, holding 'pollinator identification days', and organising 'hands-on workshops' in the field.

The initiative coincides with recent news that the EU, together with the UK, has agreed to permanently ban the outdoor use of neonicotinoids, widely agreed to be harmful to bees.

Earlier this year a major assessment of the latest science by the European Food Safety Authority concluded that most uses of neonicotinoid pesticides are a risk to wild bees, honeybees and other pollinators.

However, as Wild Oxfordshire's bumblebee expert Dr Roselle Chapman explained, neonicotinoids are not the only threat that bees face.

"Suitable habitats have been in decline for years and it will take time and effort to restore them and reverse the decline of bees.

"Wild Oxfordshire has 15 years’ experience of working with conservation community groups in nurturing wildlife in their local green spaces.

"We have a network of over 80 dedicated local groups with a tremendous breadth of knowledge and experience and we hope that this new focus on monitoring pollinators and understanding their habits will help their numbers to stabilize."

Bumble bees and other insects that pollinate fruit crops and legumes such as peas are estimated to contribute £430m each year to the UK economy, but Dr Chapman said even this estimate did not take into account the insect-pollinated crops that support livestock, and therefore the meat and dairy industries.

She added: "It also doesn’t include the value of their role in allotments, gardens, ornamental flower production and the multi-million pound seed industry, but pollinators are also crucial to maintaining healthy and diverse wildlife habitats.

"By focussing on pollinators and their needs we will also be improving the lot of many other plants and animals.

“Finally, but not least, they have a huge cultural value: people, especially children love bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and other pollinators.”

Wild Oxfordshire will launch its people-powered bumblebee drive this Saturday at its Local Environment Groups Conference.

Running at Chadlington Memorial Hall in West Oxfordshire from 10am to 4.30pm, the conference will have speakers from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust as well as several Oxfordshire ecologists.

Places can be booked online at wildoxfordshire.org.uk