Council upholds bee benefits
Bid to encourage essential pollinators
TORREVIEJA town hall has promised to take action to protect bees and other vital pollinators which are essential to maintain the food chain.
Mayor Eduardo Dolón signed an agreement with the association of south-eastern naturalists (ANSE) on Tuesday that will allow the town to form part of the network of municipalities which are helping to adapt these precious insects to climate change.
A town hall spokesman explained that they will follow national guidelines approved recently by the ministry for the ecological transition.
The council will provide public spaces such as parks, gardens and school grounds for ANSE to plant vegetation which attracts wild bees.
They will also set up wooden blocks to encourage the creation of hives. The spokesman noted that it is the populations of the ‘totally harmless’ wild bees that are in decline – but not the ‘domesticated’ western honey bee (Apis mellifera).
The agreement will also see Torrevieja council commit to conserving and promoting the habitat of threatened pollinators, ‘managing better’ the existing populations and reducing the risk presented by the use of insecticides.
ANSE will offer advice to the town hall on how to proceed and help to find places where wild bee hives can thrive.
Mayor Dolón was joined by municipal biologist Juan Antonio Pujol at the meeting held with ANSE president Pedro García.
A pollinator is anything that helps carry pollen from the male part of the flower (stamen) to the female part of the same or another flower (stigma).
The movement of pollen must occur for the plant to become fertilised and produce fruits, seeds, and young plants.
Some plants are self-pollinating, while others are pollinated by insects and animals such as bees, wasps, moths, butterflies, birds, flies and small mammals including bats.
According to the US National Park Service, ‘one out of every three bites of food you eat exists because of the efforts of pollinators, including many fruits, vegetables, and seeds’. “Pollinators not only are necessary for our own food, but support the food and habitat of animals,” they note.