Today, May 20th Is World Bee Day.

Today, May 20th, is World Bee Day and, in conjunction with Biodiversity Week and the National Biodiversity Data Centre, the Irish Examiner has published a booklet entitled Working Together for Biodiversity.

The booklet, which is free today with the Irish Examiner newspaper, aims to raise awareness about the incredibly important role that bees play as pollinators, as well as the alarming decline in bee numbers across Ireland and the world.

Believe it or not, wild bees are actually facing extinction and even our beloved bumblebees are in danger. It is essential that society reverses this worrying trend because bees are vital to agriculture, plant life and biodiversity. The problem is so serious that scientists both nationally and internationally are calling on individuals, businesses and governments to take action as a matter of urgency.

Positively, two Irish scientists have already begun to work to fight against this grave situation. In 2015, Dr. Úna Fitzpatrick from the National Biodiversity Centre and Professor Jane Stout from Trinity College Dublin, developed the All Ireland Pollinator Plan (AIPP) and it is already helping to reverse the decline in Ireland. The aim of the AIPP is to encourage as much of Irish society as possible to take action to protect bees and develop habitats and food sources for them.

If you would like to know more about what you can do to help protect bees, pick up a copy of today’s Irish Examinar and the free Working Together for Biodiversity booklet.

In addition, you can find out more about the inspiring work of Dr. Úna Fitzpatrick and Professor Jane Stout tonight on TG4 at 9:00 p.m. The programme Plean Bee introduces viewers to Ireland’s honeybees, bumblebees and 77 species of solitary bees. It also showcases some of the initiatives underway across the county that are helping to save our bees. One successful initiative in Derry City has been simply to reduce grass cutting in summer months to support the growth of wild flowers.

Locally, our own Cabragh Wetlands in Thurles, provides a valuable safe haven for endangered bees, but there is so much more we can do. So why not get involved?

For more information on the All Ireland Pollinator Plan visit Pollinators.ie (click HERE). It has detailed suggestions on how every person, school, business and County Council can play their part in this most worthy of causes.