Take a closer look at the colourful plants dotted along an initially unassuming Bristol alleyway and you\u2019ll see them teeming with insects. Bumblebees, hoverflies and ladybirds throng around a mixture of catmint, yarrow, geraniums and anemones. \u201cIt\u2019s buzzing with pollinators now,\u201d Flora Beverley says.<\/p>\n
Just over a year ago, the alley we are walking down was a dreary, litter-strewn dumping ground. Now, thanks to the pollinator pathways project<\/a>, it is filled with nectar-rich plants and bee hotels. Colourful murals line the walls. A neighbour and her son passing by stop to tell Beverley they watered the plants yesterday. The local people who helped to transform the pathways continue to maintain them too.<\/p>\n The pollinator pathways project in Knowle, Bristol. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt\/The Guardian<\/p>\n A trail runner and fitness influencer, Beverley started the project after a chronic illness left her unable to spend as much time running in the countryside. She wanted to bring more nature into her local community and, at the same time, help to connect important nearby habitats in Bristol including parks and the Northern Slopes nature reserve with insect-friendly corridors.<\/p>\n The project took off unexpectedly well and in the space of a year local groups have revamped seven alleyways around the south of the city. Most transformations take place over a weekend. Volunteers and mural artists pile in, and it is funded by small grants that Beverley \u2013 who does not get paid \u2013 applies for in her own time, street collections and donations from local businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cThe things that are good for nature tend to be very good for people too,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re lucky to have so many green spaces in Bristol, but there is a lack of connection between them. Habitat fragmentation is a big issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Scientists are reporting catastrophic declines<\/a> in insect numbers around the world. International reviews estimate annual losses globally of between 1% and 2.5% of total insect biomass every year. The drivers of the plummeting numbers vary, but include habitat loss, exposure to pesticides and the climate crisis. In the UK, \u200ba citizen science survey<\/a> run by the conservation charity Buglife monitors bug splats on cars. It found a 63% decline in flying insects between 2021 and 2024.<\/p>\n There are many ways to help protect insects<\/a>, some simple, others harder to achieve. Prof Dave Goulson from the University of Sussex says that creating more pollinator-friendly habitat in our cities is \u201ca fairly easy win\u201d.<\/p>\n map<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe already know that urban areas can be surprisingly good for pollinators compared to modern, intensive farmland,\u201d he says. \u201cIf there were initiatives greening up gardens, parks, road verges, roundabouts, cemeteries, little alleys in Bristol, then it all adds up.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd there\u2019s no downside to having lots of wildflowers in our cities. As well as helping to conserve biodiversity, it connects people with nature. Kids can grow up surrounded by bumblebees, butterflies and birdsong.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bristol alleyways project is the most local of actions, but it taps into a rich global movement. The US artist Sarah Bergmann coined the term \u201cpollinator pathway\u201d<\/a> in 2007 for her project connecting Seattle University\u2019s campus to Nora\u2019s Woods via a corridor of native plants.<\/p>\n A huge network of community pollinator pathways<\/a> has since sprung up across 300 towns in 24 states in the US and in Ontario, Canada. It began in 2017 when the conservationist Donna Merrill offered people near her home town of Wilton free native trees to form a passage of pollinator habitat that spanned the Connecticut-New York state line. Merrill was particularly inspired by Oslo\u2019s \u201cbee highway\u201d<\/a> created a few years before \u2013 a network of green rooftops, beehives and patches of insect-friendly plants that stretches across the city.<\/p>\n In the UK, Buglife is tackling the loss of pollinator habitat on a national scale through its B-Lines network, which is mapping a series of 3km-wide insect superhighways that crisscross the country, connecting the best remaining wildflower-rich areas. The charity has been working with farmers, landowners, wildlife organisations, businesses, local authorities and the public for more than 10 years to help fill at least 10% of each line with insect-friendly plants.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The planet’s most important stories. Get all the week’s environment news – the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The pollinator pathways project in Knowle, Bristol.
Photograph: Adrian Sherratt\/The Guardian<\/p>\n