Latest news with #BuckinghamshireandOxfordshireWildlifeTrust
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wildlife trust's call to protect hoverfly 'heroes'
A wildlife trust has called on gardeners to help protect and save hoverflies. The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said hoverflies are the second most significant pollinator after bees. They are also food for birds and help break down gardens' organic matter but intensive agriculture, pesticides and climate change have meant their population has declined, BBOWT and the RHS said. In 2022, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature added hoverflies to its Red List of threatened species. "Hoverflies are a tiny but essential part of the natural world," Andy Coulson-Phillips, BBOWT's principal ecologist, said. "They are vital for pollinating both wildflowers and garden plants alike, so we'd love everyone across our three counties to invite them into their gardens or outside space." Stingless hoverflies are often mistaken for wasps, bees or hornets. Common species include Batman, Footballer and Marmalade, named after their distinctive markings and colours. Hoverflies have only one pair of flight wings but bees and wasps have two. They can be easily identified by their behaviour, rather than the way they look, because they hover or zigzag around plants. Vicki Hird, strategic agriculture lead for The Wildlife Trusts, said hoverflies are the "hidden heroes of our gardens and countryside". "Whatever their shape, size or disguise, they are critical for our food security," she added. The RHS's senior wildlife specialist, Helen Bostock, said the gardening charity wants people to "open their garden gates to hoverflies this summer". She said: "Gardeners can help attract them by planting open, easily accessible flowers. "In spring, they'll be drawn to aubretia. In summer, they'll love blackberry flowers, oxeye daisy, marigolds, fennel, cow parsley and poppies. Come autumn, they can be seen on heather, aster and even common ivy." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. City hopes to become 'pollinator capital' In pictures: High hopes for Cairngorms hoverflies Thousands of rare fly grubs released in Cairngorms Hopes for record breeding season of rare hoverfly Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) Royal Horticultural Society
BBC News
20-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
BBWOT and RHS call for help to save threatened hoverflies
A wildlife trust has called on gardeners to help protect and save Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said hoverflies are the second most significant pollinator after are also food for birds and help break down gardens' organic matter but intensive agriculture, pesticides and climate change have meant their population has declined, BBOWT and the RHS 2022, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature added hoverflies to its Red List of threatened species. "Hoverflies are a tiny but essential part of the natural world," Andy Coulson-Phillips, BBOWT's principal ecologist, said."They are vital for pollinating both wildflowers and garden plants alike, so we'd love everyone across our three counties to invite them into their gardens or outside space."Stingless hoverflies are often mistaken for wasps, bees or hornets. Common species include Batman, Footballer and Marmalade, named after their distinctive markings and colours. Hoverflies have only one pair of flight wings but bees and wasps have can be easily identified by their behaviour, rather than the way they look, because they hover or zigzag around plants. "We'd like people to open their garden gates to hoverflies this summer. Gardeners can help attract them by planting open, easily accessible flowers," Helen Bostock, the RHS's senior wildlife specialist, said."In spring, they'll be drawn to aubretia. In summer, they'll love blackberry flowers, oxeye daisy, marigolds, fennel, cow parsley and poppies. Come autumn, they can be seen on heather, aster and even common ivy." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
11-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
BBOWT says government plan is threat to counties' nature
A charity says a key government plan poses "one of the biggest threats to nature laws in over a generation".The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has asked people to write to their MPs over concerns it has about the Planning and Infrastructure government says that should speed up building and improve infrastructure but the charity says it would allow developers to sidestep environment regulations, provided they pay into a new fund.A government spokesperson said the bill, currently at the Committee stage in the House of Commons, would "deliver a win-win for the economy and nature". BBOWT says the government's plan for the Nature Restoration Fund, managed by Natural England, is an "attempt to cover its tracks" over potential nature damage."Our natural world underpins every element of our economy, and if we want long-term sustainable growth, we must invest in nature," Estelle Bailey, its chief executive, said."We know that a thriving economy depends on a thriving natural world, but Keir Starmer is bizarrely pushing a false choice between protecting nature and building homes. This is an unnecessary and divisive rhetoric – the two can and must be considered together."Labour has promised to build 1.5 million new homes in England over the next five years, with the pledge key to boosting economic growth. Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said in February that there would be "no excuses" to not hit that target in England by government spokesperson said: "We have inherited a failing system that has held up the building of homes and infrastructure, blocking economic growth but doing nothing for nature's recovery. Communities and the environment deserve better than this broken status-quo."Our Planning and Infrastructure Bill will deliver a win-win for the economy and nature – introducing the Nature Restoration Fund to unblock the building of much-needed homes and infrastructure, funding large scale environmental improvements across whole communities, and introducing robust protections so that our new approach can only be used where it will create positive outcomes for the environment." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
