Pollinator Strategy - 2021 Progress Report

Introduction

Welcome to the fourth Annual Progress Report highlighting the range of projects helping to deliver The Pollinator Strategy for Scotland.

Just as it did in 2020, the continuing Covid-19 pandemic hampered many planned projects during the course of 2021. Yet, once again, a range of partners did their best to overcome considerable challenges, and a good number of projects were able to progress. As with last year’s report, we offer a series of links to several inspirational projects which progressed last year. These can be found towards the end of this report.

As you would expect we continue to employ a range of tactics, and to work with a wide range of partners, to achieve progress in making Scotland more pollinator-friendly. Our drive to raise awareness of the issues facing pollinators, and to highlight what we can all do to help, dovetails with the efforts of other agencies, environmental bodies, local authorities, scientific colleagues, community groups and an increasing number of highly motivated individuals.

To avoid the report becoming too lengthy, to keep things current, and prevent the document being overly cumbersome to use, we have removed many completed projects from the tables within this year’s report. You can still view details of these in our previous Progress Reports.

We were particularly pleased to be able to host an online gathering of Scotland’s Local Authorities in May to share knowledge on managing greenspaces in a pollinator-friendly fashion. Several councils gave presentations highlighting the benefits, challenges and methods behind managing public amenity land for nature and pollinators.

The third round of the Biodiversity Challenge Fund supported local projects across Scotland to plant many hectares of new or improved habitat to help pollinators, birds and wildflowers. Such has been the positive impact of this fund for biodiversity that a new multi-year package of around £55m over the next five years is now being put in place in the shape of a Nature Restoration Fund. This is good news for pollinators.

Likewise, the work of the Pollinator Monitoring Research Partnership continues to gather momentum and the release of easy to use online recording tools should enable yet more data to be gathered from 1km square surveys and FIT-Count exercises using the skills of knowledgeable citizen scientists. Two notable achievements in this area of work were the launch of an app to enable FIT-Count reporting to be carried out digitally, and the creation of a new UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme website

This Progress Report comes on the back of Glasgow hosting COP26, and there is no doubt now that the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss are in the forefront of everyone’s minds. Scotland is doing its utmost to address pollinator declines and we are extremely fortunate that so many people in Scotland recognise the plight facing our pollinators and are delivering positive change to help these vital insects.

The main objectives identified in the Pollinator Strategy for Scotland remain:

• To make Scotland more pollinator-friendly, halting and reversing the decline in native pollinator populations.
• To improve our understanding of pollinators and their pollination service.
• To manage the commercial use of pollinators to benefit native pollinators.
• To raise awareness and encourage action across sectors.
• To monitor and evaluate whether pollinators are thriving.

January 2022

Our partners

In December 2015, we launched a consultation inviting views on proposals for pollinator conservation. The responses underlined the need for collaboration across sectors to promote action that would benefit our pollinators.

The resulting Strategy includes action for everyone, from Scottish Government and its agencies to conservation groups, farmers, landowners, managers, gardeners, agricultural businesses, commercial businesses and members of the public.

We are reliant on, and grateful to, the following champions of the Pollinator Strategy for Scotland for their ongoing support and project skills:

• Bee Farmers’ Association
• Bee Health Improvement Team
• Buglife
• Bumblebee Conservation Trust
• Butterfly Conservation Scotland
• Central Scotland Green Network Trust
• University of Edinburgh
• Forestry Commission Scotland
• Inverclydebuzz (Inverclyde Pollinator Corridor)
• James Hutton Institute
• Keep Scotland Beautiful
• National Farmers’ Union, Scotland (NFUS)
• Network Rail
• Plantlife
• RSPB Scotland
• Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
• Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture
• Scottish Government
• Scottish Environment Protection Agency
• Scottish Land & Estates
• Scottish Beekeepers’ Association
• Soil Association
• Scottish Farming and Wildlife Advisers’ Group
• Scottish Quality Crops
• Scotland’s Rural College
• Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service
• Scotland’s 32 local authorities
• ScotRail
• Scottish Wildlife Trust
• Sustrans Scotland
• UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Abbreviations

A number of abbreviations are used throughout this Progress Report:

• AECS        Agri-Environment Climate Scheme
• AHDB       Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board
• BBCT        Bumblebee Conservation Trust
• BC             Butterfly Conservation
• BHIP         Bee Health Improvement Partnership
• BHIT         Bee Health Improvement Team
• CCLP        Coalfield Communities Landscape Partnership
• CP             Country Park
• UKCEH     Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
• CSGNT     Central Scotland Green Network Trust
• FIT            Flower-insect timed (count)
• HBHS       Honey Bee Health Strategy for Scotland
• HLF           Heritage Lottery Fund
• IGNN         Irvine to Girvan Nectar Network
• IPM           Integrated Pest Management
• JHI            James Hutton Institute
• JMT          John Muir Trust
• KSB          Keep Scotland Beautiful
• LBAP        Local Biodiversity Action Plan
• NNR          National Nature Reserve
• PMRP       Pollinator Monitoring and Research Partnership
• PoMS        UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme
• RBGE       Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
• RSPB        Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
• SASA        Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture
• SBA          Scottish Beekeepers’ Association
• SFAS        Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service
• SG            Scottish Government
• SNHBS     Scottish Native Honey Bee Society
• SQC          Scottish Quality Crops
• SRUC       Scotland’s Rural College
• SSEN        Scottish and Southern Energy Networks
• SWT          Scottish Wildlife Trust

Note: The sections which follow track the progress made towards meeting our objectives, and lists projects and actions. This is a dynamic process, and will be updated with new priorities and actions as necessary. A timescale is proposed for the core actions: S = short- (up to 5 years), M = medium- (5– 10 years) or L = long-term (10 years or more).

Objective 1: Pollinator-friendly habitats

What we need to do:

• Prevent further habitat loss and degradation by maintaining and improving the current diversity of semi-natural habitats,
• Promote the restoration and creation of natural flower-rich habitats in the countryside and in urban areas, to support a national ecological network,
• Retain connected habitat networks for wild pollinators and extend pollinator habitats to adjacent areas,
• Implement measures to protect and enhance pollinator habitats,
• Recognise the importance of brownfield sites and manage these to benefit pollinators and other species,
• Encourage the inclusion of pollinators’ needs in land management, and development planning and management through demonstrable biodiversity net gain,
• Incorporate green infrastructure in developments, such as green roofs and rain gardens, to provide additional pollinator habitats, and
• Support the use and development of pollinator-friendly pest control measures, including integrated pest management, in agricultural and urban areas, building on the principles set out in the EU Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides

Project (S – short term, M – medium term, L – long term)	Organisation(s)	Notes
Revised regime for grass cutting across East Ayrshire education estate (S)	East Ayrshire Council	The East Ayrshire Learning Outdoors Team has been working with local schools to create ‘wild’ spaces in school grounds. As part of the Coalfield Communities Landscape Partnership (CCLP), the East Ayrshire Coalfield Environment Initiative is working with landowners and local communities to create or enhance pollinator habitat on derelict Open Cast Coal sites, in Community green spaces and along active travel routes in the CCLP area. Working with the community and local schools, spring bulbs and community fruit trees are being planted near meadows for the benefit of pollinators and the local community. The community will be encouraged to plant pollinator-friendly spring bulbs and wildflowers in their own gardens to improve habitat connectivity throughout villages and towns, and to encourage community connection with the project. The project started in March 2021 and to date 16.2 ha have been sown and 2,300 native spring bulbs have been planted.
Falkirk Pollinator Parks – creating flower-rich habitat for pollinators, and pollinator ‘stepping stones’, within and across urban parks in Falkirk and linking to the John Muir Pollinator Way. Includes bulb planting and meadow enhancement at several sites. (S)	Buglife Falkirk Council	This project has been completed; however to support ongoing management, Buglife is planning some additional site visits, surveys and volunteer work to be completed by the end of spring 2022. These sites are now being managed in-house by Falkirk Council using cut-and-lift equipment.
Angus Coastal grassland and meadow enhancements	Angus Council	Siteworks have led to opportunities to create new species-rich coastal grasslands at various sites. Habitat creation contributes to work started in 2014 to create kidney vetch stepping stones supporting small blue butterfly.
Brechin Den – urban wetland creation scheme	Angus Council	A scheme to de-culvert a watercourse in Brechin town centre has created an opportunity to develop urban wetland and meadow pollinator habitats including flowering species as well as trees.
The John Muir Pollinator Way is an inspirational landscape-scale project with considerable pollinator corridor potential. Twenty-five pollinator hotspots will create a connected habitat network along the route, building on the existing 15 sites. (L)	Buglife CSGNT	SG, NatureScot, CSGNT and Greggs Foundation funding meant target number of pollinator hotspots was exceeded. 32 sites, 8 hectares, along the 134-mile John Muir Way created and enhanced, working in partnership with Local Authorities.
Encouraging the inclusion of pollinator needs by creating a pollinator-friendly award recognising community creation of space managed for pollinators. (M)	KSB NatureScot	Annual award under the ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ scheme run by KSB; an award funded by NatureScot. The 2021 winner was Yorkhill Green Spaces for their community-focused pollinator-friendly work in Glasgow.
Encouraging Green Infrastructure Fund grantees to maximise the benefits to pollinators within the design and management of their projects. Battleby demonstration site houses a ‘living wall’ to show how built-structures can be transformed into biodiversity hotspots with advantages for pollinators. (M)	NatureScot GISI (Green Infrastructure Strategic Intervention)	Recently completed project at Melfort Park (Clydebank) has prominent pollinator-friendly elements.
Garnock’s Buzzing is committed to increasing the diversity, abundance and connectivity of pollen/nectar habitats around the River Garnock. It is a key project of Garnock Connections, an RSPB-led landscape partnership which aims to enhance and promote the natural and cultural heritage of the River Garnock area.	RSPB, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Buglife, SRUC	During 2021 Garnock’s Buzzing continued to support North Ayrshire Council and community groups to help pollinators. Volunteer surveyors were trained in identification as well as FIT counting and transect monitoring methods. 1ha of meadow was cut and collected and a further 1ha of meadow created. Action for the Small Blue Butterfly included online training for 40 people, 33 volunteers spending 2 days surveying 13 sites (including 8 golf courses) for the butterfly and its food plant and advisory meetings with golf course managers.
The Irvine to Girvan Nectar Network (IGNN) is a Scottish Wildlife Trust-led partnership which builds connected habitat networks for wild pollinators and increases the resilience of local pollinator populations.	Steered by Scottish Wildlife Trust, NatureScot, North Ayrshire Council South Ayrshire Council	During 2021 the IGNN had 10 sites monitored regularly by volunteers, supported the establishment of a community’s roadside verge initiative and made 12 new meadows. The new meadows included the National Centre for Bowling, much of the rough of a redesigned golf course and 1ha of public greenspace next to 2 wildlife reserves. All the new meadow managers committed to care for them into the future.
Inner Forth Habitat Network. Covering CSGN areas of Stirling, Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Fife. (M)	Inner Forth Futures	Promotion and advocacy of the Inner Forth Habitat Network (map and Call-to-Action) and Ecological Coherence approach undertaken by members of the Inner Forth Natural Heritage Working Group. Identifying opportunities to deliver habitat management, enhancement, restoration and creation across a suite of five key habitats (river and wetland; peatland and heathland; grassland and open mosaic; intertidal; woodland) plus urban areas. The Habitat Network is an example of a regional contribution to Scotland’s Nature Network.
Inner Forth Wetland Network. Capital work at four wetland sites identified within the Inner Forth Habitat Network. (Stirling, Falkirk and Fife) (S)	Inner Forth Futures	NatureScot’s Biodiversity Challenge Fund 20-21 funded delivery of the Inner Forth Wetland Network at 4 sites: Bluther Burn, Fife (Fife Council); Bothkennar Pools, Falkirk (Falkirk Council); Carron Dams, Falkirk (Scottish Wildlife Trust); Kildean, Stirling (Stirling Council). Outputs: 0.5ha new wildflower meadow, 1,050 trees planted, various measures for conservation grazing.
Pollinators along the Tweed.	Buglife Tweed Forum Scottish Borders Council	‘Pollinators Along the Tweed’ forms part of the Destination Tweed project. The lead organisation is the Tweed Forum. Funding for a development phase from National Lottery Heritage Fund, NatureScot, Scottish Borders Council and Sustrans. Funding permitting, the project will be implemented during a five-year delivery period commencing in 2022. This project aims to create, restore, and enhance up to 40 hectares of wildflower-rich habitat across 50 sites.
The Love Your Network Fund supports active communities in accessing funds to enable local improvements to the National Cycling Network. (M)	Sustrans	Local community groups and organisations supporting volunteers receive grants for training in wildlife ID and iRecord. They also assist with equipment to carry out habitat management. This includes grants to partners to continue work started under Greener Greenways, and West Lothian Council maintain the wildflower meadows strips.
Habitat creation and connectivity in Greener Greenways context on Alloa–Dollar and Alloa–Tillicoultry routes. Regeneration of contaminated land at Fishcross into wildflower area. (M)	Clackmannanshire Council	Creation of improved habitat for native wild bees completed with hedgerow and wildflower strips.
Glasgow City Council implements its own Pollinator Plan, which ensures that the city has a positive approach to creating pollinator-friendly habitat. Hogganfield Park Local Nature Reserve and Queen’s Park in the city are now designated Pollinator Parks. (M)	Glasgow City Council	Pollinator Plan actions are included in Glasgow’s Biodiversity Annual Monitoring Report and will be included in future Biodiversity Duty Reports. Habitat management and creation of wildflower areas allied to new signage to raise awareness of pollinators and climate change
Piloting the use of red clover on path edges and verges to reduce maintenance and provide pollinator forage. (S)	Falkirk Council	In March 2021 Falkirk Council started a Sustainable Grass Management Pilot Project. The project includes 35 pilot sites (parks, wide road verges and other council-owned greenspaces) where management has been made more sustainable and better for the environment. The changes include: creating strips of wildflower meadow, planting spring bulbs, planting fruit trees, planting areas of native broadleaves. The pilot will run to spring 2022, after which decisions will follow about future sustainable management of these and other council greenspaces.
Sites at Greenhall (Blantyre) Blairbeth, (Fernhill), are in council ownership and include wildflower habitats. (S)	South Lanarkshire Council	Yellow rattle seed collection at a ‘Meadow Makers’ event at Fernbrae Meadows in 2021. Nature Restoration Funding will be used to prepare further sites for seeding and planting.
Reducing roadside verge management and improving pollinator provision.	Argyll and Bute Council	The Council’s cutting regime remains sympathetic to pollinator needs. The council contributed to the Buglife B-Lines project in the Argyll area, and Bute will be the focus for 2022.
‘On the Verge’ is a project identifying potentially pollinator-friendly sites in the Stirling area and planting them with native wildflowers. (M)	On the Verge community group	The focus over 2021 was on working with community groups to sow wildflowers areas and to better manage existing grassland for wildflowers, typically in school grounds, parkland, or pockets of abandoned land.
Increasing promotion of road verge guidelines on management and creation of pollinator-friendly road verges.	Plantlife	Managing Grassland Road Verges publication was well received nationally and further enhances the argument that roadside verges managed for wildlife are a biodiversity boost.
West Lothian B-Lines. An HLF project which completed in May 2021 (S)	West Lothian Council Buglife	Project Complete 14 meadows created in West Lothian over 2 years, in 10 open spaces; resulting in a 70% average increase in wildflower species and a 50% average increase in pollinator species observed per meadow in the first year. Project engaged over 578 people in invertebrate ID workshops and habitat creation events; meadow factsheet distributed to 52 staff; design and placement of 6 new permanent site interpretation boards in parks.
Stirling Council Pollinator Plan (L)	Stirling Council	The Council is committed to reducing the area of intensively managed grass and following a reduced management regime. A public consultation on a local Pollinator Strategy for Stirling has taken place and new public space management practices are being followed.
Modification of management of public greenspaces (L)	Aberdeenshire Council	A LEADER-funded greenspace project explored the modification of the management of public greenspaces. This looked at lower intensity options that benefitted pollinators, mitigated against climate change and reduced costs. Moving from regularly-cut grass to wildflower and woodland options. A new Pollinator Action Plan is being drawn up which will cover the period 2022 to 2027.
Meadow creation at a new development site - Thurso South substation, managed by Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN). (L)	Bumblebee Conservation Trust Consultants WSP SSEN	Following the sowing of a tailored pollinator wildflower seed mix on 10ha around substation site near Thurso, in 2020 a Great Yellow Bumblebee was recorded for the first time on the site. Further sightings were noted in 2021 by BBCT staff.
Central Scotland B-Lines. Using NatureScot Biodiversity Challenge Funds with CSGNT to create habitat for pollinators along John Muir Way in East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Edinburgh and Clyde Valley (M)	Buglife CSGNT Edinburgh Council South Lanarkshire Council Falkirk Council E Dun’shire Council	Project Complete. Wildflower-rich habitat managed for pollinators along the John Muir Way and within the Clyde Valley. Activities include: bulbs planted, plug plants added, wildflower seed sown, hedgerow planting, fruit trees planted, Yellow rattle sown, flowering shrubs planted. Cut-and-lift systems now being followed on meadows.
Wild Line and Daisy Chain Projects	Edinburgh University RBGE City of Edinburgh Council	A consortium led by the RBGE was awarded a grant from the Biodiversity Challenge fund to undertake several interventions along the south coast of the Firth of Forth in Edinburgh between Cramond and Gypsy Brae. Included is planting of 8 individual x 500m2 wildflower meadows in a linear array along the shore, using a native wildflower seed to deliver high nectar and pollen benefit to a range of pollinating insects. The meadows bloomed and were surveyed six times between April and October. In November 2021 the meadows were enriched with plug plants of selected species and sown with Yellow Rattle. Further plantings took place in December 2021. The City of Edinburgh Council has committed to maintaining the meadows for at least 10 years.
Sustrans volunteers undertake Citizen Science and habitat management tasks across the National Cycle Network	Sustrans	This is a continuation of the Greener Greenways work. Sustrans runs bird and bumblebee ID sessions and supports subsequent surveying. Sustrans also continues to manage 8 sites on its estate for wildlife – wildflower areas and two orchards.
NC500 B-Lines report	Buglife	A project taking account of insects and plantlife along the course of this popular tourism route in the North of Scotland. Much of the Highland NC500 is on Buglife’s ‘B-Line’’. This work seeks to identify areas which would most benefit from improved management and actions to increase habitat for pollinators. This project was supported by NatureScot through the Better Places Green Recovery Fund.
Pollinator-friendly practices	Inverclyde Council	Inverclyde Council has applied for funding from the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme for two projects: Former Hector McNeil Baths – Carwood Street Food Growing Project, Craigend Resource Centre, Greenock
Bluebell seed bank creation (S)	Woodland Trust	Woodland Trust’s volunteer working group at Kinclaven Bluebell Wood collected 2.5 kg of bluebell seeds under licence last August for propagation. This ensuring their seeds form part of a bluebell seed bank.

Objective 2: Understanding pollinators and their pollination services

What we need to do:

• Improve our knowledge of plant–pollinator interactions, including the relationship between wild pollinators and habitat size, quality, type and connectedness to other areas of habitat, and
• Better understand, through spatial mapping, the resources available to pollinators on a landscape scale.

Project	Organisation	Update
Encouraging Scottish growers to complete an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan and encouraging local authorities to apply the principles of IPM to ground maintenance and management. Supporting and promoting IPM, and targeted use of pesticides, in agricultural and urban areas. Supporting and complying with approved advice supplied for the GB governance structure. (M)	SG SQC	There is now a new and refreshed agricultural IPM assessment plan for use by Scottish businesses. The new plan improves on the previous version by allowing the industry’s progress in adopting IPM to be measured. The new plan uses a metric for measuring IPM adoption, derived with stakeholder input that assigns weightings to the different pest management options and scores farms on a 0-100 scale for IPM adoption. The revised plan allows the increasing uptake of IPM by the sector to be demonstrated to the industry’s customers and to Government and its agencies. The IPM Plan is now hosted on the Plant Health Centre website The Scottish Government continues to support the restriction on three neonicotinoids (Clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) in response to the evidence of their effect on the environment, particularly on bees. These restrictions go beyond the partial ban that has been in place since 2013 and, from December 2018, use is limited to permanent greenhouses where exposure to bees and other pollinators is not expected. Scottish Quality Crops (SQC) have introduced a requirement for growers to complete an IPM plan to meet the SQC assurance scheme standards. In February 2020 the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment launched the new Amenity Standard, developed by the Amenity Forum in partnership with stakeholders. The Amenity Standard is a quality management standard designed to provide reassurance that those involved in maintaining amenity areas operate at the highest professional standards and that such operations are undertaken safely by trained personnel. The Scottish Government continues to support the Amenity Forum in publicising and increasing the uptake of the Amenity Standard.
Butterfly Conservation identification classes provide entry-level knowledge of plant–pollinator interactions and contribute to monitoring goals. (S)	Butterfly Conservation	Over 250 people received training in butterfly identification and recording between March and July 2021. Several have gone on to be involved in butterfly monitoring through transects, and BC are now analysing the records submitted via iRecord. Work with volunteers to improve sites for butterflies continues at nine urban meadows in central Scotland, which are now entering their third year of management and showing improvements in floral and insect diversity. Volunteers are involved in the maintenance of some of the best sites for butterflies through work parties in autumn-winter 2021-2022.
The Saving the Great Yellow Bumblebee project started in 2019 and engages with the public and landowners and increases surveying efforts to inform future conservation of this species. (L)	BBCT	Continuing from previous work, BBCT provide tailored advice to farms/landholdings to support beneficial management for Great Yellow bumblebee. Advice and follow-up support is provided to farmers, landowners and agents in high-priority Great Yellow areas and, where appropriate, advice on management options funded by SRDP-AECS, voluntary measures and/or written letters of endorsement are provided. In 2019 and 2021, BBCT employed survey consultants to gather data on forage and bee surveys along the north coast of Sutherland, and the Outer Hebrides, in June-early September. The reports highlight suitable areas to target more intensive surveys for Great Yellow bumblebees and suggests where changes in management might encourage better habitats for this rare bumblebee. With research partners the Earlham Institute, the BBCT collected samples of genetic material from Great Yellow bumblebees (using non-lethal methods) across a number of sites in Sutherland, Caithness and Orkney. The aim is to monitor genetic relatedness in the northern populations of GYB and whether inbreeding could be a factor in population decline.
Identifying optimum plants and habitat area size for wild pollinators in different management situations. (M)	SRUC	Research projects exploring optimum farm management and landscape-scale measures to protect and promote pollinators. Pollinator-friendly management actions are being evaluated at AHDB Prestonhall Monitor Farm and Soil Association Pollinator Demonstration Farm. This work is in its final year with farm specific feedback sent to all farmers and presented via webinar. Nitrogen-fixing crops trials are now finished and indicate that targeted species mixtures can provide resources for a wider suite of pollinator species and increase the longevity of flowering period. Findings have been published in Agriculture, Ecosystem and Environment as a practical guide and policy briefing. A PhD studentship exploring the impact of varietal differences of oilseed rape on insect pollination is now successfully completed. Findings have been published in Agronomy with further research papers in production. SRUC collaborated on a global questionnaire study led by Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. The study explored how on-farm experiences shape farmer knowledge, perceptions of pollinators, and management practices.
Evaluating methods of management that benefit pollination in field margins and diverse habitat areas at farming and landscape-scale sites. (L)	JHI	Seeking to confirm links between pest control and nearby pollinator-friendly habitats, including reference to an EU-Frameworks project looking at farmer clusters for more effective biodiversity-friendly management.
FAS Scotland and SRUC are committed to promoting IPM plans and delivering knowledge exchange activities on IPM and beneficial insects to key stakeholders. (L)	SFAS SRUC AHDB	Information video on IPM is available online via the Farm Advisory Service’s Crop and Soils and Environmental Portals. Beneficial insects and their role in IPM featured in two FAS Crop Trials Research into Practice webinars (June 2021) and the FAS winter roadshow Winter Agronomy Digital Roadshows - IPM planning and fungicide updates | Events helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) (January 2021). Measuring IPM tool How do you measure IPM? | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) (March 2021). SW Dairy Focus Group on sustainable farming Webinar: Are you milking your environment? | Events helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) (November 2021). New FAS publications focusing on Making Pesticide Use Sustainable are in development. SRUC monitored a variety of agronomic and environmental outcomes at Balbirnie Home Farms the AHDB’s new Strategic Farm Scotland. Baseline data collected in 2020 of both pest and beneficial insects. Results presented to key stakeholders via two webinars (How to Workshop June 2021 and In-Field Flower Strips: November 2021).

Objective 3: Manage commercial use of pollinators to benefit native pollinators

What we need to do:

• Ensure the process of screening commercial honey bees, and imported/managed bumblebees, for pests and diseases continues to safeguard our wild pollinators,
• Review biosecurity measures for imported bees, particularly bumblebees, aiming to support healthy populations of pollinators in the wild,
• Ensure that practical advice is available to reduce the potential for pest and pathogen transfer, and disease impacts on wild pollinators,
• Reduce the reliance on imported bees for commercial pollination, and
• Encourage and support ways to increase the use of naturally-occurring pollinators.

Project	Organisation	Update
Supporting and sustaining a healthy honey bee population and beekeeping industry in Scotland through continuing to implement the measures set in the Honey Bee Health Strategy for Scotland (HBHS). (S)	SG SASA SRUC Bee Farmers’ Association SBA	SG has now published a review of the first Scottish Honey Bee Health Strategy. This Review, conducted in conjunction with members of Scotland’s Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP) identifies areas for improvement to best support a healthy and sustainable population of honey bees in Scotland in future. Part of this review identified needs for better understanding of the interaction between managed honey bees and wild pollinators. The review also identified a need for partnership working between NatureScot and the Bee Health Team in SG to educate beekeepers and mitigate any possible negative impacts of honey bees on wild pollinators whilst maximising their benefits and capitalising on the knowledge and passion of Scottish Beekeepers in nature, environment and pollinators. SG Honey Bee Health team plan to complete a survey with the Scottish beekeeping community and others to provide understanding of important issues to determine the direction of the new Strategy over the next 10 years. SG has a Programme for Government commitment to produce a new 10-year Honey Bee Health Strategy by June 2022.
Publishing an informative position statement on the interplay between wild bumblebees and managed honey bees. (M)	BBCT	Bumblebee Conservation Trust have published a position statement on the interactions between managed honey bee colonies and wild bumblebees with recommendations for minimising conflict.
Imported bees Identifying actions required to minimise the risks of managed bees (imported and locally produced) to native pollinator species. Reviewing the pathways by which commercially-produced pollinators enter Scotland to determine the scale and biosecurity risks. Develop a suite of tests and a standardised process to assess bumblebee health; ensure best practice guidance is available for pollinator box users.	Scottish Bee Inspectorate	The Scottish Bee Inspectorate has strong certification procedures to ensure disease and pest freedom of imported bees into Scotland. Furthermore, these certification procedures are bolstered with a risk-based approach to post-import checks. Following Brexit GB has a third country trading relationship with the EU. Domestic legislation avoids the import of colonies and packages of honey bees directly into GB with the exemption of New Zealand. The only imports of honey bees allowed, other than from New Zealand, are queen bees with up to 20 attendants. Post-import checks on these imported queens have also been strengthened as a result of the third country status. HBHS supports beekeeper education and local breeding to reduce requirement for imported honey bees and potential impact of disease. The HBHS and SG Bee Health team contribute towards reducing honey bee losses through improved disease control, thus reducing the requirements for imports, and generally raising the health status of managed (honey) bees and their wild neighbours.

Objective 4: Raise awareness and encourage action

What we need to do:

• Ensure that the value and vulnerability of plants and their pollinators is widely recognised,
• Increase awareness within key sectors and among the public of opportunities to help pollinators and their habitats,
• Support and raise awareness of schemes and organisations that encourage people to identify and record pollinating species,
• Support initiatives by local and national environmental groups that increase the diversification and connectivity of flower-rich habitats in the countryside and urban areas,
• Encourage and support land managers to restore or create native flower-rich habitats to enhance pollinator, and abundance and diversity. Work together to carry out management at a landscape scale, including urban green space and urban fringe areas.

Project	Organisation	Update
Glasgow City Council’s Flower Power project ensures that plants used across the Council’s parks and gardens are, wherever possible, locally grown and encourage community involvement. Managing parks and gardens in a manner that is sympathetic to the needs of pollinators. (M)	Glasgow City Council	Flower Power wildflower nursery at Pollok CP maintained with volunteer support. The Friends of Pollok Country Park and Linn Park helped with plant watering during Covid restrictions. Bulb-planting at Ruchill Park, Springburn Park and Avenue End meadow, with 160 volunteers improving over 90 square metres of ground.
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh highlights the presence and role of pollinators. The Garden’s internationally recognised botanical expertise ensures that the value of pollinators is routinely highlighted. (S)	RBGE	The pictorial meadow at RBGE encourages visitors to think about meadow landscapes and encourage similar in their own communities. Volunteer phenology-recording project documents annual changes in the Gardens, on the RBGE estate and highlights pollinator-impacting shifts in flowering times due to climate change.
Downloadable guides on the Garden for Life Forum offering tips and encouragement for wildlife-friendly gardening (S).	Keep Scotland Beautiful / Garden for Life Forum	Includes section ‘Bedding plants for pollinators‘
Providing regular updates, news and features on pollinator-related activity through the Scotland’s Pollinator blog and the associated twitter feed (S)	NatureScot	Publishing blogs, social media posts and website updates. Sharing and cross-promoting these materials. Investigating options to ‘place’ pollinator stories in the press. We have 1,450 (last year = 950) twitter followers and our blogs jumped from 4,500 views in 2019 to 8,700 views in 2020 and 15,100 views in 2021.
Continuing to develop guidance, tailored to a range of audiences (farmers, councils, schools, gardeners), on practical action to help pollinators. This increases awareness of the value of assisting and recording pollinator species. (S)	BBCT Buglife Butterfly Conservation	A wide range of guidance published on these organisations’ websites. For example, BBCT and RSPB have jointly published a factsheet on managing golf courses for bumblebees. This can be downloaded, and hard copies are available on request.
Working with partners, including policymakers and those with practical skills in the management of habitats, to raise public awareness and understanding of the needs and status of pollinator populations. Video guidance and information for farmers. (S)	SFAS SRUC Soil Association	Three SFAS practical guides available online via the Farm Advisory Service’s Environmental Portal: Why and How to Increase Pollinators on Your Farm Pollinator Types and Food Sources on Small Units 10 Steps To Helping Pollinators On Small Units New content developed for FAS webpages around beekeeping, with signposting to other resources. September 2021: SRUC training day on regenerative agriculture to upskill consultancy staff on agro-ecological approaches to farm management. This event explored the role of insect pollinators to agriculture, and key means to encourage them. June 2021: webinar explored the value of woodlands to insect pollinators and how management may increase this value.
Agri-Environment Climate Scheme, under the SRDP. (L)	NatureScot	Agri-environment funding for pollinators is being accessed via this scheme. Around 80% of crop and wild-flowering plant species in the EU depend, at least in part, on animal pollination. Acting as a partner in delivering the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS), there are currently 2744 contracts in place for agri-environment measures under the Scheme, with a total value of £180 million. Included are many actions, particularly in the arable sector, specifically targeted to pollinator needs as well as for the management of semi-natural grasslands.
Green Connectors Project	Glasgow City Council	Green Connectors 5-year project creating integrated habitat linkages throughout the city for pollinators and other wildlife by wildflower, hedge and tree planting in appropriate sites. Glasgow’s Green Urban Connectors has been awarded £111,151 from the NatureScot Biodiversity Challenge Fund to create green connections within south-west Glasgow. The project is a collaboration between Glasgow City Council, Parks Development Team and RSPB Scotland.
NatureScot is working with Scottish Government to develop revised policy for the CAP/Brexit transition period 2021 – 2024. (M)	NatureScot	Focus on maintaining stability of current farming support scheme architecture, simplifying it where possible, whilst amending it to help address the climate change emergency (see 2019 IPCC report) and biodiversity loss (see 2019 IPBES report). Future, post-2024, rural policy and how a more transformational change in land use can deliver on the above policy drivers as well as build a resilient and diverse rural economy are central elements. Piloting an outcome-based approach to agriculture support in Scotland (POBAS) includes testing biodiversity outcomes on range of farm types (intensive arable included) and a different way of incentivising farmers to deliver these.
Illustrating what public good looks like on Scottish Farms (pollinators are listed as a public good) to demonstrate the public benefits generated by farm support schemes. (L)	NatureScot	Monitoring the outcomes generated by the current SRDP/AECS scheme on Scottish farms. Gathering evidence from across Europe on ways in which land managers are encouraged to deliver environmental outcomes on farmland to inform future rural policy.
Ongoing awareness- raising of the invasive non-native Asian hornet through the Asian hornet contingency plan and associated guidance on BeeBase. (M)	SG SASA SBA	Continued raising awareness through public engagement activities and sentinel beekeepers. Asian Hornet Week activities through public media and monitoring by beekeepers at apiaries. Updates are regularly fed on to relevant audiences.
Improvement works at Engineering depots to benefit biodiversity and pollinators in particular. (S)	ScotRail	Amongst the projects ScotRail was able to progress in 2021 was the creation of a new meadow at Prestwick Railway Station.
Montrose Space for Nature project. Changing grass-cutting regime and herbicide application on open sites in Montrose. (M)	Angus Council	A 2km stretch of cycle path now down from 16 to 2 cuts per year and yellow rattle seeding reducing competition from grasses, to allow wildflowers (and thus pollinators) to thrive. Two other sites in Montrose were managed for pollinators in 2021. This approach was extended to Arbroath in 2021 and will be rolled out in more Angus burghs in 2022.
Strathmore ‘Pollinators & People’ B-Lines Project	Buglife Scotland, Angus Council, Perth & Kinross Council, Tayside Biodiversity Partnership	Developing a multifaceted B-lines project from Montrose to Dunkeld. Habitat creation, community engagement and overall improved connectivity are central to the project.
Introduction of Living Lawn and relaxed mowing regimes	Moray Council	Living Lawn established at Cooper Park, Elgin, and relaxed mowing at various sites in Forres.

Objective 5: Evidence – monitor and evaluate whether Scotland’s pollinators are thriving

What we need to do:

• Gather and analyse data to better understand pollinator population trends, habitat availability and connectivity to ensure that the correct actions are being taken for pollinators and habitats,
• Support monitoring and recording schemes for key species, notably bees, hoverflies, moths, butterflies and wild plants, and
• Encourage citizen science and other volunteer projects that add value to existing monitoring initiatives to help deliver the National Pollinator Monitoring Scheme.

Project	Organisation	Update
Completing regular LBAP monitoring reports and obligatory Biodiversity Duty reports. These increasingly highlight specific pollinator-friendly actions. (L)	Local authorities	These regular and detailed reports will be of considerable help in building a clearer picture of the state of our pollinators. Attendance by the Pollinator Strategy Manager at LBAP meetings enhances connections and sharing of good practice.
BeeWalk is a standardised citizen scientist monitoring scheme that collects bumblebee data from across the UK to gain an accurate understanding of current bumblebee populations and distributions. (L)	BBCT	The 2021 BeeWalk Annual Report covers bumblebee monitoring and the 2021 report covers the years 2008 to 2021. This is the most comprehensive data we have on bumblebee abundance throughout the UK.
Using objectives outlined in the Pollinator Implementation Plan to monitor achievements and direct future efforts. (L)	NatureScot	The Implementation Plan was amended in 2021 to reflect progress and areas identified as needing further work. This Annual Progress Report ensures current information and projects are highlighted to help to inform future actions.
Pollinator Demonstration Farm (Lochend of Barra in Aberdeenshire) provides a platform to explore and demonstrate means of enhancing pollinator provision in intensive arable farming systems. (L)	Soil Association SRUC	Three-year demonstration site to assess plant mix and habitat size implications for pollinators. Key findings were presented at a stakeholder meeting entitled RESAS Sustainability Webinar Series: Integrated pest management and pollinators (February 2021).
Large-scale farm experiment testing methods for sustainable intensification of arable and grassland farming. (L)	UKCEH	The ASSIST programme  runs until 2022 with experimental sites across England testing impacts of a) flower margins and in-field strips on pollinators, pollination and natural pest control in arable crops and; b) sustainable grazing and pasture enhancement on grassland farms. The results will be shared across the UK. ASSIST is also producing novel tools for farm and landscape-planning.
Supporting the National Pollinator Monitoring Scheme in Scotland. (L)	UKCEH NatureScot SG	Support of PoMS work through promotion of FIT counts, financial support towards the 1km square surveys, and modelling of distribution trends for Scotland. New website launched in May 2021 along with new FIT-Count app
Developing a Scottish monitoring programme through BioBlitz surveys. (L)	JHI	Using the JHI estate and surrounding farms to assess pollinator species and their numbers. Pan trapping used to sample pollinators from Balruddery Farm continued into second year as part of a PhD project to assess pollinator diversity in relation to habitat availability.

Current and recent Pollinator Research Projects

The findings of the following research studies will be of interest in relation to the Pollinator Strategy for Scotland and further afield. We welcome updates from the projects to include in this and future Annual Progress Reports.

The aims of the research included in this listing broadly fall into the following five main areas:

• Pollinators’ habitats, biology and ecology;
• Taxonomy;
• Pesticides;
• Climate change;
• Pests and diseases

If you are involved in a research project which supports the aims of the Pollinator Strategy for Scotland please get in touch.

• Pollinators’ habitats, biology and ecology

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor pollinator assemblages. This multidisciplinary project explores the use of high-resolution images captured by drones to predict pollinator assemblages on the ground. (Edinburgh University, SRUC) NERC-funded PhD project, 2020-2024.

Long-term potential and cost-effectiveness of grassland and sward diversification to improve foraging resources for pollinators. (James Hutton Institute) 2018-2021.

The Bees’ needs. Using molecular analysis of bee-collected pollen to understand which plants play an important role in honey bee forage. Honey bees are abundant generalist foragers, and uniquely managed by man. They can therefore be useful indicators of forage availability for the wider pollinator population. The output of this project has helped inform land use and planting to benefit Scottish pollinators, particularly during early/late season forage gaps. (SASA, Strathclyde University, SBA, Coloss) Published 2018.

The potential of nitrogen-fixing crops to provide resources for insect pollinators. Alternative approaches to sustainable land management. (SRUC, JHI) 2016-2022

Alternative approaches to sustainable land management. The impact of agri-environmental interventions on beneficial insects and ecosystem service at the farm scale. (SRUC) 2018-2022

The value of gardens for floral resources to pollinating insects. Using DNA meta-barcoding to study the foraging preferences of bumblebees, hoverflies and solitary bees (National Botanic Garden of Wales, Bangor University) 2020.

Plants for pollinators: developing and testing seed mixes for pollinators in gardens and amenity spaces. Testing annual seed mixes for their suitability to bumblebees, hoverflies and solitary bees. (National Botanic Garden of Wales, Aberystwyth University) 2020.

The Pasture for Pollinators project looks at how dairy farmers can manage their forage resources to conserve and enhance populations of pollinators, bumblebees in particular. The work is based on six organic farms in North East Wales, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. (European Innovation Partnership Wales, Bumblebee Conservation Trust) 2018 – 2020.

The role of road verges in conservation of wild pollinators. (University of Cambridge, Bumblebee Conservation Trust). 2020 – to date.

Monitoring floral resources with remote-sensing satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles. (University of East Anglia, Hutchinsons Ltd.). 2017 to date.

Relative importance of wild and managed pollinators in soft fruit production. (University of East Anglia, Berry World)

Sustainable Management of Orchard Pollination Services. A team of industry and academic partners tested pollinator management strategies in apple orchards, including flower-rich margins and nesting habitats, to boost pollinator populations and improve yield and crop quality. (University of Reading, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, National Institute of Agricultural Botany, Avalon Produce, Worldwide Fruit, Syngenta). 2018 to date.

The GFS Resilient pollinators project. Spatial modelling to identify and value the UK’s pollinator natural capital, how this is likely to change under future scenarios and the implications of these changes for the resilience of pollination services to UK agriculture. (University of Reading, University of Huddersfield, University of Northampton, Global Food Security). 2019 to date.

The Pollinator Monitoring and Research Partnership (PMRP) was established in 2014. In 2017 1 km square surveys began. The cost of running a well-designed monitoring scheme is significantly lower than the value of pollination services to the UK economy and provides high quality scientific data for a lower cost than running separate research projects. (University of Reading, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) 2014-2027.

The PMRP wider citizen-science pollinator Flower-Insect Timed Counts began in 2018. Last year over 1,600 counts submitted. (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the PMRP) 2018-2027.

X-Polli:Nation. Research into methods and ideas for monitoring and conserving pollinators, improving citizen science practice and researching how Artificial Intelligence technologies can be used to monitor pollinators. It encourages citizens to create, maintain and monitor pollinator-friendly habitats (University of Aberdeen, Open University, Imperial College London, Learning Through Landscape, Museo di Storia Naturale della Maremma (Italy)). Current.

Effects of future agricultural change scenarios on beneficial insects. Study concluded that restoring semi-natural grassland should result in increases in pollinator richness and functional diversity, even if agricultural practices remain intensive on cropped land. In contrast, any expansion of arable land is likely to be accompanied by widespread declines in richness of beneficial insects, even if cropping practices become less intensive. (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) 2020

The impact of upland grazing management on floristic composition, pollinator assemblages and the robustness of plant-pollinator interaction networks. Alternative approaches to sustainable land management (SRUC) 2016-2022.

The structure and species-richness of plant-pollinator networks. This research showed how the removal of flowers provided by more generalised plants can negatively affect patterns of interaction between the remaining flowers and pollinators. It provided further evidence of the importance of common plants for flower-visiting insect communities (Czech Academy of Sciences). 2020.

• Taxonomy

Characterisation of the British honey bee metagenome. This project aimed to delve into the genetics and microbiome of British honey bees, identifying some key ‘friends and foes’ responsible for bee health, and building on previous work to assess the importance of ‘native, hardy’ honey bee stocks; thus highlighting the importance of sustainable local honey bee populations. (Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Fera Science Ltd, Newcastle University, SASA, Agroscope Switzerland, University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden) 2018

High sample genotyping for estimating C-lineage introgression in the dark honey bee. This highly collaborative project looked at genetic diversity across European honey bee populations. This paper highlighted the prevalence of native black bee genetics in northern and western populations despite continual importation of bees, indicating that these genes may play an important role in resilience in harsher climatic regions. (CIMO Portugal, CBMA Portugal, National University of Ireland Galway, Roslin Institute, Agroscope Switzerland, Aarhus University Denmark, Universidad de Murcia Spain, CNRS France, Universite de Versailles France, SASA, Texas A&M University USA) 2018

DNA metabarcoding to investigate the foraging preferences of honey bees and a UK- wide survey of honey to investigate landscape-level foraging. (National Botanic Garden of Wales, Bangor University) 2020.

• Pests and diseases

Development of a robust subclinical method for the analysis of European foulbrood in honey bee colonies. The aim of this project is to provide additional tools to support the European Foulbrood Control Plan, identifying ‘contact colonies’ prior to symptomatic disease to reduce the pathogen load at the apiary level, improving sustainability and reducing pathogen spill-over to neighbouring honey bee colonies. (SASA) 2022

Healthy Honey Bees – analysis of the Deformed Wing Virus population to assess rational Varroa control on a Scottish island. Project investigated whether co-ordinating varroa control across beekeeping communities may improve control of the pest, overall bee health and sustainability. (University of St Andrews, University of Aberdeen, SASA)  2020

Development of a rapid screening tool to identify bumblebee pathogens. This aim of this student placement project was to build capability at SASA to monitor for pathogens affecting bumblebees, and to assess potential infestations which could affect both managed and wild bee populations. Capability now in place (at SASA) and available for use in the field. (University of St Andrews, SASA)  2018

The PoshBee project is assessing the combined risks of pesticides, pathogens and poor nutrition on wild and managed bees to improve practices and policies. (Reading University, Royal Holloway University London, British Beekeepers Association and National Farmers Union). 2020

• Climate change

Moth distribution study suggesting that summer warming is an important factor driving northward range expansions and corresponding increases in occupancy, whilst this is being countered for some species by negative impacts from land management practices and habitat changes, together with warmer and wetter winters, leading to population declines. (Butterfly Conservation, University of Kent, Rothamsted Research; NatureScot) 2015

Find out more in our blog

You can follow the progress of many of the projects contributing to the delivery of Scotland’s Pollinator Strategy, and discover more about pollinators and pollination, in our regular blogs.

Recent subjects featured include the following:

Yorkhill Greenspaces – Perfect for Pollinators

Bonnie Dundee’s pollinator-friendly projects

Green Connectors – Glasgow’s pollinator corridors

Perfect Partners – Louisa Maddison on South Lanarkshire’s pollinator actions

Utrecht – an urban landscape helping pollinators

Garnock’s Buzzing – making connections in Ayrshire

Islay’s ideal idea – how verges are helping pollinators

It’s good to talk – our first online pollinator conference

A natural high : The Beinn Eighe pollinator trail

Wish you were here? The work of the Pollinator Monitoring and Research Partnership

Smorgasbord or Spartan: the consequences of pollen diets

Coming soon, to an ivy near you – the ivy bee

So long, see you next year – insects getting through winter

Hazardous neighbours – insect parasites and viruses

The heather colletes - Spooked hikers and choughs chuffed to bits

Pollination: a wealth and health trade

An enemy’s enemy is a friend

The silent and lethal majority – solitary predatory wasps

Pollination – a game of hide and seek

Phoenix rising from the sand

Stylopized, emasculated and zombified: the risks of visiting a flower

Tell us about your project

Do you have a pollinator-friendly project which hasn’t been mentioned in our Progress Report?

If so we would love to hear from you and acknowledge your work.

Please contact [email protected].