Tuesday, February 18, 2025
4.1 C
Gedling

Over five acres of wildflower meadows and 9,000 trees planted in Gedling borough to help bees

Bookmark

Get breaking news and a daily update sent to your WhatsApp by signing up HERE

More than five acres of wildflower meadows and 9,000 trees have been planted across Gedling borough to help bees and pollinating insects.

Gedling Borough Council passed a motion in January 2021 concerning the adverse effects of herbicides and pesticides which have been leading to the decline of pollinating insects.

It has since reduced their application and banned the use of the herbicide glyphosate on council-managed parks and open spaces.

During a Scrutiny Committee meeting on Monday, April 22, Melvyn Cryer, Head of Environment, said the use of neonicotinoids has also ceased.

- Advertisement -

Neonicotinoids are toxic to pollinating bees and can disrupt their ability to navigate and reproduce.

The pesticide can only be used with Government-approval and if there is a risk to crops. However, they have been approved for use for four consecutive years, with the most recent being granted in January this year.

“In January 2021 the council stopped the use of neonicotinoids and glyphosate across all public access land that it manages, in a proactive effort to reverse the disruption to the bees and pollinators’ habitats, and protect human health,” Mr Cryer said.

Unused areas in parks and open spaces have been utilised as wildflower meadows to further promote the health of pollinators.

“The total area now set aside for wildlife meadows is 5.5 acres and is growing each year,” he said, adding that a total of 9,499 trees, including flowering variants such as cherry-leafed hawthorne and blackthorne, have been planted over the last five years.

- Advertisement -

Cllr Kyle Robinson-Payne (Lab) said: “It is really good to see what is happening to support pollinators in Gedling, and considering to see some of this work coming out of members bringing forward a motion just shows what we can achieve together and despite the financial constraints the council finds itself under.

“I just wanted to understand a little bit better how the policy is making an impact in a positive way. How can we look at the decline of bee and pollinating insect populations, how can we look at how that has changed, if at all, since the policy’s enactment?”

Mr Cryer said: “The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust does do insect monitoring at Gedling Country Park, we’ve also had monitoring done at other sites as well, but I will be honest it is something we could improve on.

“One of the issues is that are controlling the land we own directly, but we can only influence on other land areas.

“So, farmers are still spraying their fields with glyphosate and things like that, so the problem with the insect population is it shares that habitat with both farmer’s fields and our own parks and open spaces.”

Spotted something? Got a story? Email our newsdesk news@gedlingeye.co.uk

Read more from Gedling Eye

Get your daily news briefing every evening…

Sign up for our daily news email and receive Gedling borough news direct to your email inbox in the early evening, to read at your leisure on your desktop, tablet or mobile wherever you are.

We don’t spam and you'll only receive one email a day

Join the discussion

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

ADVERTISEMENT

Most read

Headlines

Cryptocurrency trading, strategies, and risks

The cryptocurrency market has revolutionised the way assets are traded, offering dynamic opportunities for traders to engage with digital...

People in Gedling borough being warned over fake Boots email scam targeting personal data

The scam involves fake emails that claim to be from Nottingham-based healthcare giant Boots.

Full list of road closures and roadworks planned across Gedling borough

If you're planning to travel through the borough take a look at our list to see whether your journey will be affected.

More than 130,000 money-savvy train passengers benefit from discounted ticket scheme on borough route

Since launching last year, EMR has sold 131,663 Advance Purchase tickets on the Nottingham to Lincoln and to Crewe routes.