Insects charity: All we are saying is give bees a chance
Land on roadside verges, parks and roundabouts should be left to grow wild to allow insects to flourish, according to an insect conservation charity.
Buglife Scotland believes Scotland’s council-run land maintenance services should ease back on cutting wild areas. It says bees, flies and beetles would thrive as a result, and benefit wildlife across the country.
Letting areas grow over during the Covid-19 lockdown benefited Scotland’s beasties – and they want the practice to continue.
“We’d definitely like to see the trimming of these areas scaled back,” said Craig Macadam, of Buglife. “Road verges tend to be absolutely scalped to a very short height. It’s claimed this is for safety purposes, but what we’d like to see is a perhaps a transition between the short grass at the edge of the road to longer grass the further you go back.
“Roundabouts can be left long too, as can parks and green spaces. This would be hugely beneficial to insects.”
According to Buglife, two councils in Scotland have received requests to let wild areas flourish.
A review of more than 140 studies by a team of scientists at the University of Exeter showed pollinators like bees and butterflies benefit from roadside plants and flowers.
The roads form a network of “corridors” that provide food and shelter for insect populations. While there are downsides to living by the road, including exposure to pollution and the risk of being hit by vehicles, the researchers found the benefits for insects far outweigh the costs.
They found verges can be dramatically improved for pollinators by measures such as creating flowerrich verges, reducing mowing and limiting the impact of street lighting.
“There is huge untapped potential to improve road verges for pollinators through management,” said lead author Ben Phillips, of the Environment and Sustainability Institute at Exeter University.
“In many cases, this involves mowing less and at the right times, to increase flowers and reduce the amount of pollinators, eggs and larvae killed.
“We can help pollinators further by reducing impacts of road pollution.
“This includes light pollution, which can be addressed by limiting how long streetlights are switched on for, as these can confuse nocturnal insects.”
One council in Cornwall have already agreed to reduce the number of times verges are mown from eight times a year to two.
It’s a move the council claims will help wildlife – as well as save money.