A Hoverfly Haven Is in the Works

By creating a “beeline” to protect Britain’s hoverflies, Bristol could become the country’s pollinator capital, thus ensuring the survival of the insect crucial for food security.

The planned beeline would cover the “best habitats for pollinators and hoverflies that exist already,” explains Shelly Easton, head of nature’s recovery at Avon Wildlife Trust, and by strengthening that line it “decreases isolated patches of habitat.”

Avon Wildlife Trust joined the Royal Horticultural Society to launch the Pollinator Pathways Project. The goal is to create a 70-kilometer “beeline” from Chew Valley, up the east of Bath, to South Gloucestershire. The overly is among the wild pollinators; collectively, they are responsible for 85% of Britain’s insect-pollinated crops like apples, strawberries, nuts, and rapeseed oil. Hoverflies pollinate 52% of the world’s crops and protect them by eating aphids. Through its partnership with the Buglife charity, Avon Wildlife Trust encourages people across Bristol to plant more flowers and build hoverfly lagoons.