Archive: this article announced Pollinating the Peak in 2016. The project ran from 2017 to 2021.
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust developed Pollinating the Peak to help bumblebees and other pollinators across Derbyshire and the Peak District through habitat work, education and community activities.
Photograph: Glen Shee.
In 2016, project development manager Sally Cuckney said the aim was to inspire people to improve habitats, monitor bumblebees and build “buzzing communities”, as reported by ITV.
The trust’s 2019–20 annual report said the project had helped improve more than 300 hectares for bumblebees and had delivered an education programme to 1,655 pupils at ten schools. Partners included Chesterfield Borough Council, Little Green Space and Moors for the Future Partnership.
The original 2016 report said £150,000 had been awarded for development and a further £700,000 earmarked. In 2017, the trust reported an award of almost £720,000 for delivery. The Heritage Fund’s 2021 announcement reported £967,200 in National Lottery funding; its project record lists an award of £872,200.
Pollinating the Peak won the National Lottery Project of the Year award in 2021. The trust now lists it among its completed projects.
A 2011 estimate put the value of pollination to UK crops at approximately £691 million a year. This figure covers insect pollinators generally, including bees and other insects.
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust currently records 24 bumblebee species in the UK. Cullum’s and the short-haired bumblebee are among species no longer found in Britain. The trust’s reintroduction project report said an attempt to reintroduce the short-haired bumblebee was likely unsuccessful.
Loss of flower-rich habitat is a major threat. The Office for National Statistics reports Natural England’s estimate that 97% of wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s. Climate change, disease and pesticides also affect pollinators.
Find out about current conservation work from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.
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