By Seshi Humphrey-Ackumey, Farmland Ecology Placement Student
This July saw the return of the New Forest Show, where the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust gets the opportunity to share the important research we do with the public. Our display showcasing the BEESPOKE project drew particular interest. People were excited to hear about the work BEESPOKE is doing to try to boost pollinator numbers and increase crop yields.
BEESPOKE is an Interreg North Sea Region funded project aiming to increase the numbers of pollinators and area of wildflower habitats. The project involves 16 partners from the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Sweden. All with the aim to advise policymakers, advisory bodies, and farmers on the flower-rich habitats that will provide for pollinators and help boost crop yields.
People showed a genuine interest in the work BEESPOKE is doing in researching farmer-friendly, flower-rich habitats, and it was not just the bumblebee soft toy or our fieldwork photos of fuzzy bumbles foraging that drew people in. Visitors were also interested to learn more about solitary bees, the important role they play, and how they can help them. Our bee hotel provided an eye-catching example of a safe nesting habitat for solitary bees, and we managed to hand out lots of our leaflets showing people how to build their own hotel.
A high point of the show was hearing how excited a young boy got about using our solitary bee booklet to search for bees with his grandma. The fact that people found the time to engage with conservation between watching the showjumping, livestock competitions, and other presentations is extremely motivating. It shows that the public want to engage with the natural world around them and do what they can to conserve it. The New Forest Show showed that outreach and spreading awareness about conservation are vital to help influence public perception about the protection of nature, and our work making information accessible plays an important role in this.