Let wildflowers grow: CI gardeners key to pollinator recovery

Wednesday, 30 April 2025 11:18

An annual campaign is urging islanders to put their lawnmowers away in May.

The UK charity Plantlife has been running the citizen science initiative 'No Mow May' since 2019.

It says letting wildflowers grow undisturbed for a month is great for the environment, providing more food for bees, butterflies and moths.

Chair of Guernsey's Pollinator Project Gordon Steele says it is the easiest environmental movement to take part in.

“Put away the mower, put out the deckchair and relax knowing that you are helping pollinators.

"We need to provide more sources of nectar, have more bits of the garden where insects can thrive, and cut out the pesticides if we are going to help nature recover."

Gordon says poor weather in summer last year has caused a dramatic decline in insects.

"There were not long dry periods of warm weather, which butterflies and bumblebees need to be able to fly and find mates and thrive.

"The best evidence says that numbers were down by 50% - that is a huge drop in 12 months.

"We're hoping the nice warm spring weather continues this year, and we still get a few showers, but that will help numbers recover."

He says that the insects are crucial to the food chain.

"70% of the different types of food we like to eat, including tomatoes, apples, pears, blackberries, raspberries, even chocolate and coffee from around the world, rely on pollinator insects.

"Without them, we will lose those foods, and in the meantime, the price of food will keep going up and up."

The Pollinator Project has spent the past five years collaborating with the University of Bristol to monitor pollinating insect populations across the Channel Islands.

This summer, a team from Bristol will visit the islands to present some early findings from the £1 million research initiative.