You may have noticed fewer bumblebees around during the summer, this is because they are in serious decline in the UK according to research1. To help reverse this problem, Sainsbury’s is funding an exclusive project aimed at boosting bumblebee numbers by as much as 600%2.
Known as ’Operation Bumblebee’, the project will involve the specialist training of over 300 of Sainsbury’s farmers and growers, who farm in excess of 80,000 hectares of farmland across the UK. The project’s aim is to grow the number of bumblebees by many millions over the next three summers, as well as increasing the population of bumblebees, other wildlife, including butterflies, bugs and farmland birds will also benefit.
HOW IT WILL WORK:
Sainsbury’s farmers and growers will be encouraged to set up habitats for bumblebees, by sowing and managing ’field margins’ and other uncropped areas within their fields. Using a unique seed mix, these new habitats will produce a selection of plants and flowers which deliver a consistent supply of pollen and nectar where bumblebees can thrive.
The exclusive project will be managed by Syngenta, who will train Sainsbury’s farmers and growers, in the new skills required to manage Bumblebee habitat. This follows a successful pilot project run for Sainsbury’s by Marshalls Bros, one of Sainsbury’s largest green vegetable suppliers.
So successful was the pilot that the project is now being rolled out to 90% of Sainsbury’s key vegetable and potato farmers and growers.
George Reid, a potato grower for Sainsbury’s said: "We are really excited about this project, in the last week we have sown a number of new areas between our fields. We will continue to do this until the first week in September – and we look forward to seeing many more bumblebees at work in our fields by this time next year. "
Debbie Winstanley, Sainsbury’s bumblebee ambassador said: "Sainsbury’s customers care about the environment in which their food is grown, and at a very small cost this project demonstrates how sustainable, profitable food production and a vibrant countryside can sit side by side. "
Operation Bumblebee is one of many projects Sainsbury’s is looking at to support rural and farming communities across the UK and creates valuable environmental habitats to encourage biodiversity. Sainsbury’s is always working to reduce pesticides in its own-brand food, and to use natural alternatives whenever possible.
