Volunteers dig in to help conserve rare bumblebee at Sibster forest
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A Caithness volunteer group has joined forces with forestry staff in the far north to help boost numbers of a rare species of bee.
The great yellow bumblebee was once recorded across the UK, but is now confined to the north of Scotland, where it benefits from flower-rich habitats such as machair.
Now members of Caithness Environment Volunteers are set to plant two meadows at Sibster forest in an effort to help the bee and other pollinators thrive.
Forestry and Land Scotland staff have been developing the sites as part of the Species on the Edge project led by NatureScot. The meadows are in two of several large, open areas within the forest that was planted in 2011 on a former agricultural site.
The wildflowers are being tended by FLS staff in polytunnels in Lairg, and will be planted out this autumn by the volunteers.
Neil McInnes, FLS forester for Caithness and Sutherland, said: “It really takes a while for a healthy meadow to get going and become well established so we’ve been working on this project for several years now.
“Adjusting the mix of plants is a slow, steady process. Working with Bumblebee Conservation and local ecology volunteers and tapping into the expertise of new FLS staff with horticultural industry experience has given us a great mix of skills and knowledge – from basic botany to plant propagation and species conservation – that are helping to shape and transform the two meadows.
“It goes to show the range of our conservation work and highlights that sometimes it’s the things that you can do at the very local level that can make all the difference in helping endangered species.
“Our partners will regularly monitor the meadows in the years to come and help keep a close eye on the fortunes of these particularly rare bees.”
The project began in 2014, with initial steps involved controlling and reducing the fast-growing rye grass and creating the spaces that would allow the less vigorous, pollinator-attracting flowering plants to take root and establish.
Initial works were enhanced in 2017 with the planting of a hedge by one of the meadows to provide more blossom and to create a "bank" and tussocky grasses, where great yellow bumblebees like to nest.
Regular autumn cuts over the past few years have helped the meadows to properly mature.
Mary Legg, secretary of Caithness Environment Volunteers, said: “The volunteers are happy to spend a few hours a month helping a variety of projects that allow the biodiversity of Caithness to flourish.
“In this case it's planting out wildflower plugs and, as Sibster woodland is already popular with local people, this should increase the opportunity for them to see and hear a variety of pollinating insects including the great yellow bumblebee.
“It might also encourage the visitors to allow a little space in their own gardens for wildflowers.”
The new wildflowers will help to enrich the mix of plants such as red clover, vetches and knapweed that are the especially preferred food plants of the great yellow bumblebee.
