Coronavirus may boost UK's bees and rare wildflowers numbers

[FfFfFfFF 58,120]

Rare wildflowers and declining bee populations could start to recover during the coronavirus lockdown because many councils are leaving roadside verges uncut, according to Europe’s biggest conservation charity for wild plants.

The respite for these mini-meadows is likely to lead to an explosion of colour in the countryside this summer and bring benefits to other pollinators, including butterflies, birds and bats, botanists at Plantlife said.

Roadside verges are one of the last refuges for the many plant species that have been devastated by the conversion of natural meadows into farmland and housing estates. These narrow strips of grassland are home to 700 species of wildflowers, nearly 45% of the UK’s total flora.

Trevor Dines, Plantlife’s botanical specialist, said this could be a silver lining to the coronavirus crisis. “It’s a real opportunity for verges to flower again, some for the first time,” he said. “If the lockdown ends in late May, drivers will see great swaths of oxeye daisies and ladies bedstraw.”

Kate Petty, the group’s road verge campaign manager, said the extraordinary short-term circumstances of the pandemic could help to shift opinion and policies with long-term benefits for threatened species such as wood-calamint.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/09/coronavirus-may-prove-boost-for-uks-bees-and-rare-wildflowers

[HermioneT 1,998]

Maybe it is just a coincidence or a perfect illusion™, but I feel as I have never seen so many wild bees and butterflies than this spring!

Just recently I spotted a Xylocopa violacea, which is classified an endangered species in my region. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylocopa_violacea

 

[deeman 189]

That's an inaccurate title if ever I saw one. If the verges are not being cut it is because they are not being cut. Viruses don't cut verges. I have seen verges getting cut for no apparent reason when they only had been cut a few weeks before. Around here they haven't cut some of the weeds and stuff in the pavement. They used to put poison but more recently they strimmed them and now they not cut them. Looks quite nice really. I don't know why they bother. I suppose there can be some things that are good but I think to be positive about it we need to bring the WHO etc.  to trail for genocide. They certainly didn't do this to help bees.

 

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

We won