Help for wild bees: free native flower seed should reverse the decline | Interior

“That is a thousand more than last year,” says spokesperson Nikkie van Outheusden on behalf of the organization The Pollinators. “We have been working on this aid campaign for wild bees and other pollinators for five years now. And more and more people are willing to volunteer as a food bank.”

The aim is to significantly increase the area of ​​native wild flowers and plants in the Netherlands. To this end, 60,000 free flower mixtures are available. All bags together add up to about 150,000 square meters of sea of ​​flowers. That’s about 25 football fields.

“By sowing seeds of native plants in your garden, you support pollinators such as bees, bumblebees and butterflies that are doing badly. Not only with food, but also with shelter and breeding grounds,” says plant ecologist Nils van Rooijen of Wageningen University.

Hoverfly and wild bee populations have been under pressure for decades. At the same time, the insects are important for the pollination of food crops. The Netherlands has about 360 species of wild bees, but some are on the red list for critically endangered species and are in danger of disappearing from our country

“We want to make people aware that everyone can do something themselves,” says initiator Tom van de Beek of The Pollinators. “Sowing these flowers helps, but it is better to also remove part of the tiles from your garden and leave more plants and junk corners. In this way we help reverse the decline of these insects.”

Plant ecologist Van Rooijen: ,,Wild bees only fly short distances and need many places. Your sown flower bed immediately helps.” Flower beds on balconies in the city are also a good idea.

The seed bags contain a special mixture including wild marjoram, snake herb, branched lion’s tooth and variegated vetch. “Because it is both indigenous and organic, it is about expensive seed,” says Van den Beek. The organization receives the money for this from companies and governments that have joined the National Sowing Coalition.

For the Feed the Bee Bij campaign, the organization joins the National Sowing Day on Saturday 22 April, which is organized by the Bee Foundation and the Bee Friends Foundation. They also strive for more flower strips for the little buzzers. On the website of Enter the Bij Bij is a map to find with all three thousand food banks in the Netherlands.