Buzzing with award

STAFF at West Lancashire Borough Council are buzzing over an award they have won for work to help bees.

The council’s countryside ranger service and volunteers have been working closely with Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s Plan Bee Project to improve habitats for wild bees and other pollinators at Beacon Country Park.

The Plan Bee project is largely funded in West Lancashire by the Whitemoss Community Fund.

As a result they have won a Bees’ Needs Award for 2016 from Keep Britain Tidy.

Cllr Yvonne Gagen, portfolio holder for leisure, said: “Congratulations to all the staff and volunteers who’ve helped to win this award. They can be proud of the key work they’ve done here.”

Creating good habitats for bees is vitally important to aid movement of populations.

According to the British Bee Keepers Association, one third of the food we eat would not be available without pollination from bees.

In the UK, about 70 crops are dependent on or benefit from visits by bees, and bees also pollinate the flowers of many plants that become feed for animals.

The rangers and the volunteers have carried out work throughout areas of council-managed land in West Lancashire.

They have planted wildflower seed, changed mowing regimes and altered woodland management, and carried out surveying work.

Education work is a key part of the project to increase public knowledge of the importance of bees, the threats they face and what simple steps can be taken to improve habitat for them.

Schools have been encouraged to provide more plants in their grounds and information boards have been installed at key sites.

As a result of this work, more than 600 new records of bees and other important pollinators have been made in the past three years in West Lancashire.

For information on West Lancashire Borough Council leisure events, visit www.westlancs.gov. uk/events

For information about volunteering opportunities with the ranger service, call 01695 622794.

You can also find out about parks and countryside events by following the rangers on Twitter @WLBC_Rangers or visit www. facebook.com/wlbc.rangers