Brits have been urged to take urgent action in a biodiversity crisis that could wipe out many of our most treasured crops.
Without urgent action now to help our pollinators, we stand to lose much-loved foods such as British fruits.
Dairy cooperative Arla has joined forces with Buglife, one of the UK’s leading protectors and supporters of pollinators, to launch a national rallying cry for the Great British public to give a corner of their back gardens to help save our pollinators.
They are calling on the nation to join them to build the BEE ROAD, a nationwide network of pollinator pit stops filled with bee-friendly flowers.
“One out of every three mouthfuls of the food we eat every day depends on pollinators," said Buglife's Paul Hetherington. "These pollinators are the backbone of our biodiversity and without them there would be no British strawberries, apples, cherries, carrots, pumpkins and so many more of the foods we love, as well as the flowers in our gardens and countryside. Urgent action is needed now, or we stand to lose the food and plants that are such an intrinsic part of the British way of life.
"Arla’s Bee Road initiative is a simple yet effective way of making a real difference and something we fully support.”
Around a third of the food we eat every day relies on pollinators such as bees, butterflies and bugs. Arla farmers have long been committed to cultivating pollinator patches on their 2,300 farms around the UK.
And they are giving away over 100,000 seed packs to help build a nationwide network of pit stops for bees in gardens, plant pots, window boxes, balconies and hanging baskets across the UK.
“It’s a simple idea that promises to give everyone a bit of a buzz. Not to mention giving the bees and bugs somewhere safe to rest and refuel as they help to produce the food we love," said Arla farmer Roger Hildreth.
"Working alongside Buglife, we see how urgent this issue is and feel now is the time to ask the nation to also heed the call and help us help nature. Arla farm ‘pollinator pit stops’ already form the skeleton of what we call the Bee Road, but the bees need more and so we need the Great British public and businesses to join us and fill in the gaps."
To claim your free Bee Road seed pack and find out more, visit www.arlafoods.co.uk/thebeeroad
