'Bee Bus Stops' Help to Save Bees in Britain
A UK company is causing a buzz in towns and cities with "living roof" bus stops that may help increase bee and other insect populations across the country.
Clear Channel, a media company, is working with The Wildlife Trusts, a group of nature-focused charities, to make cities better for wildlife and to bring people closer to nature. Together, they are replacing old bus stops with new ones that include a garden on the roof to attract insects.
The bus stop gardens — also known as "bee bus stops" — are filled with plants that are ideal for pollination, such as wild strawberries, poppies and pansies.
The city of Leicester, about 150 kilometers north of London, already installed 30 bee bus stops in summer 2021, and more can be found in British cities from Glasgow to Brighton.
Announcing its partnership with The Wildlife Trusts in May 2022, Clear Channel promised to have 150 bee bus stops installed by the end of the year.
Utrecht in the Netherlands was the first European city to use bee bus stops, and already had 316 of them installed by spring 2019. Utrecht notes that, in addition to helping bees, the living roofs also help hold rainwater and reduce air pollution, and even help keep the city cool in summer.
Bees are essential to biodiversity, and it has been estimated that more than a third of global crop production depends on bees and other pollinators. However, according to the UN, populations of bees and other pollinators have been decreasing in many parts of the world due to modern farming practices and climate change.
A 2019 study found that a third of the UK's wild pollinator species decreased in population between 1980 and 2013, while only about 10% increased.
