Heritage Lottery Fund grant is the bees knees!
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has
stepped in to help stop the serious decline in the country's bumblebee
population. Today HLF announced a grant of £340,000 for an ambitious project by
the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, based at Stirling University, to conserve a
variety of endangered bumblebee species and their habitats throughout the UK.
Bumblebees are fundamental to our
ecosystem: hundreds of species of wildflower, fruits such as raspberries, strawberries
and tomatoes and vegetables such as runner beans are dependent on them for
pollination. The total value of pollination in the UK exceeds £400 million.
However, over the last 70 years there has been a dramatic decrease in their
population, with two species becoming totally extinct and six of the remaining
24 species now listed as UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) priority species.
A male Bombus subterraneus. This species is now extinct in the UK (Fiona
Barclay).
HLF's grant will enable the Bumblebee
Conservation Trust to begin a three-year conservation project, helping to
protect the bumblebees and their habitat for the future. Working with
landowners, farmers, the public and schools across the UK, the project will
raise awareness of these important pollinators and help inform people on how
best to protect them. Flower-rich habitat will be provided where it is needed
most to reconnect the small isolated populations while a extensive
awareness-raising programme, including an interactive website, community talks,
learning packs for children, and a national wildlife self-assessment garden
scheme, will be rolled out across the country.
Your task
The heritage Lottery Fund is offering money to schools to support them
in their bee conservation projects.
Write a letter to the Heritage lottery fund explaining what we could do
in our school to help the bees and how we would use any money we were given for
the project. Remember to use :
- Paragraphs
- Connectives
- Generalisers
- Scientific
vocabulary
I look forward to reading them and
sending them off.
Enjoy the holidays!
Miss Joseph
