Faith Communities and Pollinators

Helping pollinators in faith grounds

Across Scotland Faith communities look after areas of land which need management. If those areas are managed for pollinators, they can benefit nature and people.

Scotland’s pollinators are a vital part of our biodiversity. Species such as bees and hoverflies are a familiar sight in our gardens, parks and countryside and they play a crucial role in our food and farming industries as pollinators. They also contribute to our enjoyment of the outdoors. 

However, our wild pollinators are facing pressures such as habitat loss and fragmentation, changes in land use, disease, pesticides and climate change - they need our support and everyone can do something to help.

Managing for pollinators

Here are a few tips to help pollinators thrive in your grounds.

• Excessive weeding, mowing and spraying are not good for habitats, aim to reduce weeding by leaving a wild-patch if possible, avoid spraying flowers with herbicides and pesticides. 
• Protect the existing good areas you have for pollinators.
• Create a low-growing meadow and protect any hedges you have. Blackthorn and hawthorn are particularly good resources for bees. Wherever possible, plant flowering trees and shrubs. Plant spring bulbs, such as crocus, snowdrop, winter aconite and grape hyacinth, to help emerging queen bumblebees and other spring pollinators.
• Provide nesting areas for bees, this can be by leaving some bare earth for mining bees or ensuring that cavity nesting bees are not disturbed.
• Graveyards can be a wild oasis in some towns and villages. Older walls can offer cavity nesting bees a site to nest or overwinter in whilst a range of pollinator-friendly flowers can sustain insects foraging for food. 
• Reduce mowing frequency – if you do so this will allow clover, birds foot trefoil and knapweed to flower, and these are all good for pollinators.
• Let dandelions bloom wherever possible as they are a great early source of food for many insects.
• Don’t worry if you can’t stretch to a pollinator-friendly strip or patch of land, even a collection of containers can be very beneficial.
• Rather than planting annuals each year why not plant perennial plants such as comfrey, catmint, lavender, rosemary, thyme and winter-flowering heather.

Finally raising awareness is an often-overlooked activity. Changing the management of any site can draw occasional curiosity or even criticism. It is important to explain to worshippers, visitors, and staff alike that you are managing your site for the benefit of pollinators – which are crucial to our environment.  By sharing information or using signage you can head off any concern’s some may have about sites being ‘abandoned’. Let us know if we can help you with signage.

Important plants for pollinators

Many of our most popular native plants are fantastic for pollinators. Amongst those which are particularly beneficial are several which naturally occur in Scotland: 

• bird’s-foot trefoil
• clover 
• dandelion 
• knapweed 
• heather
• vetch
• yellow rattle 
• willow 
• hawthorn
• ox-eye daisy

The value of bare ground and hedgerows

Areas of bare earth are important for some species of bees - the majority of British solitary bees and many solitary wasps nest in the ground. About 85% or our solitary bees are mining bees.

Hedgerows provide both a food source and a nesting opportunity for pollinators. They do not need to be the tidy hedge you might associate with a suburban garden. A variety of native trees and shrubs can be used to create valuable hedges such as willows, blackthorn, hawthorn (both spring-flowering), wild rose, bramble, and ivy (autumn-flowering). A mix of species provides food and shelter throughout the year.

A refuge in the modern world

There are around 11,000 places of worship in Scotland; that’s a huge potential for pollinators if the grounds and adjacent areas are managed for wildlife.

Many features can make these areas special for nature. Faith  grounds can offer feeding, nesting, and hibernating places for pollinators. 

Species rich grasslands around Faith buildings can prove a refuge for wildlife. Many have escaped development, the spraying of herbicides, and the regular application of fertilisers. This type of habitat has huge potential to offer rich pollen and nectar for a wide variety of pollinators.

Reduced mowing (and a short, but flowery, sward including clover, self-heal, violets and daisies) can be just as good as longer grass in the right place. As well as pollinators, faith grounds can be diverse for many other insects and plants. 

Why help pollinators

Our pollinators help to maintain healthy plant populations and shape the nature and landscapes we all enjoy and benefit from. However, they are under pressure, so creating and managing habitat for their benefit is one of the key things we can do to help them.