Pollinators

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council are proud to be partners in the All Ireland Pollinator Plan, continuing to build on initiatives for pollinators and biodiversity on Council estate and in partnership with communities and schools.

We all depend on pollinators and the important service they provide.  Unfortunately, our pollinators are in decline with almost one third of the 99 different types of bees on the island of Ireland, threatened with extinction.  The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is a strategy that addresses this problem.  It is a shared plan of action that aims to help pollinators and improve biodiversity across the island.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council has been championing pollinators through its previous Biodiversity Action Plans and this will remain a key focus in the forthcoming Council Biodiversity Strategy.  The Council’s initiatives include the annual ‘Trees for Bees’ programme, delivering annual pollinator workshops with schools and continued commitment to the ‘Don’t Mow Let It Grow’ campaign, amounting to 35 sites managed as meadows and many more across the district on roadside verges in partnership with DfI Roads.

Dr Una FitzPatrick, who chairs the Pollinator Plan Steering Group and oversees its implementation said “We are delighted that Fermanagh and Omagh District Council has become a formal partner of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan and agreed to take actions to help our declining bees and other insects.  The Council has already taken many positive steps, both through their own actions, and by supporting others in the local community.  Their work will help to open up pockets of biodiversity friendly habitat across the southwest of Northern Ireland, and we thank them for leading the way in this”.

For more information on the All Ireland Pollinator plan visit www.pollinators.ie

We’ve been mapping our actions on council managed estate using the Actions for Pollinators map. If you are taking action for pollinators in your own garden, you can record it on the map too!

What can you do to encourage pollinators?

Don’t Mow Let It Grow – leave the grass to grow to encourage white and red clover, cuckooflower and other wildflowers. Dandelions are also particularly important for bees.

Click here for to visit pollinators.ie for useful guides and resources.