Woodland and hedgerow creation crucial for pollinators

Until now, there have been surprisingly limited scientific data about pollinators in Wales when compared to the rest of the UK. However, a major new study of hundreds of different sites has revealed the types of habitats where pollinating bees, hoverflies and butterflies are most abundant.

The large-scale survey was carried out by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and Butterfly Conservation Wales, in conjunction with the Welsh Government and more than 1,000 landowners across the country. The findings show that carefully managed woodland and hedgerow creation could play a key role in land management incentive schemes, alongside other actions such as restoring wildflower meadows and organic farming with mass-flowering crops.

The researchers found up to twice as many insects in broadleaved woodland areas as in intensively farmed grassland. They also estimated that without hedgerows, pollinator abundance on farmland could fall by up to 21%.

Around a third of global food production relies on pollinators – mainly insects – which are crucial to sustain populations of other animals as well as plants, but many of these insect species are in decline in the UK and globally. The authors of the study say that to successfully reverse global pollinator declines, future policies and farming subsidy systems need to consider creating woodland and hedgerow in areas that currently have low floral cover.