Suffolk farmer Graham Denny has been enlisted by TV presenter (and fellow farmer) Jimmy Doherty for his latest TV campaign, Jimmy's Big Bee Rescue.
As a third of Britain’s bee species have declined since 1980, the programme looks at what we can all do to help increase the number of bees and other pollinators. He will demonstrate how the public, businesses and local government can all help to solve the problem and, of course, the vital role farmers like Graham can play.
Graham’s conservation success, particularly increasing the number of farmland birds such as song thrushes, lesser redpoll and the iconic turtle dove, was recently highlighted in the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust initiative, Working for Wildlife. Graham has witnessed national declines first-hand and is passionate about reversing them. Graham said: “My interest in conservation came from my father Henry and my grandfather Victor who used to feed turtle doves and other songbirds in the yard with rolled barley and wheat. The birds became quite tame and were very much part of the farm. It is hard to believe not long ago there were so many starlings and sparrows they were considered pests.”
Graham is one of many practical land managers who have signed the Working for Wildlife pledge, calling for conservation to embrace a more positive approach – one that empowers those with a detailed knowledge of their own land to make a long-term commitment to conservation and embrace the views of the local community. Sign the pledge today.
Discussing the programme, Jimmy comments: “Since I was a kid, bees have declined so much one species has even become extinct. We need to do everything we can to reverse this trend, because they are more vital to our lives than we realise. I’ve been passionate about insects since I studied entomology, and I’d love to get people all across the UK to join my campaign and help Britain’s bees.”
You can see Graham in the second episode of Jimmy's Big Bee Rescue on Channel 4 this Saturday (5 September) at 8pm. You can sign the Working for Wildlife pledge here.