The former UNESCO Biosphere Award Winner, AFD Group at Mountain View Innovation Centre has added to its array of green initiatives by creating a great environment for honeybees.
It has recently completed planting an RSPB Approved, Bird Friendly Hedge on the approach to their 25-acre site.
The 100m stretch along their perimeter features 300 individual hedging plants combining a mixture of Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Guelder Rose, Bird Cherry and Dog Rose specifically chosen for their value to birds, insects and other small animals.
Honeybees
The hedge will also provide a great environment for the colonies of honeybees that the Group welcomed back in 2018 in conjunction with Northern Beekeepers.
Fortunately, on the Isle of Man, due to the hard work of the IOM Federation of Beekeepers to maintain the disease-free status from the varroa mite pest, the population of honeybees and wild bees are not in freefall like elsewhere – but this is no reason to be complacent.
Head Gardener Ben Richards shares how this hedging will be a welcome boost to the insect population and why they are essential to a healthy environment and economy:
“When established, this hedge will offer a thriving biodiversity attracting a wide variety of insects but importantly offering an especially rich habitat for pollinators.
“As we know, bees, butterflies, beetles, moths and flies are essential for crop production without which our food security would be seriously threatened as well as risking many plant species falling into decline or even potentially extinction – which in turn would have a devastating knock-on effect on all that depend on them.”
Hedging
Properties Team Member, Andy Webb, who helped plant the hedging, added:
“It won’t only be the insects that benefit, the dense foliage will also provide the perfect cover and sanctuary for nesting birds and as it will produce an abundance of berries, seeds and sloes it will prove to be a rich food source and great habitat for small birds to thrive.”
This latest addition to the site complements the many other large and small initiatives that the group celebrate from impressive solar arrays and battery storage all way through to their energy efficient lighting systems.
You can find out more about the Group’s initiatives by viewing their UNESCO IOM Partner Profile here.
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