World Bee Day is celebrated globally on 20 May this year. The purpose of this day is to recognise and acknowledge the positive impact that bees and other pollinators have on our ecosystem.
In December 2017, the United Nations (UN) approved this day and the First World Bee Day was celebrated on 20 May 2018. The theme this year is “Bee engaged: Build Back Better for Bees” and the UN is focussing on the threats of protection posed by the negative impact that the pandemic has had on the beekeeping industry globally. The UN us also urging upon bee-keeping awareness and the importance of bee-derived products.
Horsham District Council Cabinet Member for the Environment and Rural Affairs Cllr James Wright said:
Three out of four crops across the globe which produce fruits or seeds for human consumption depend, at least in part, on pollinators such as bees, butterflies and birds which carry pollen from one flower to another, enabling the growth of fruits, nuts and seeds and one third of the world's food production depends on bees.
However, the United Nation says that bees have become increasingly endangered, with one million species facing extinction.
But here in Horsham District we are playing our part. The Council facilitates beekeeping on many of its sites and only last month in partnership with The Friends of Horsham Park, it won a national award for exemplary work to support the development of pollinator plants in Horsham Park.
It was a very special achievement and it is great to see that the dedicated bee bed legacy project from the 2019 Year of Culture is continuing to make such a difference to our environment.
The Environment Minister sent a personal letter of congratulations to the teams on behalf of DEFRA, recording her gratitude for the exceptional work that we have done to help pollinators survive and thrive.
Cllr James Wright, Cabinet Member for the Environment and Rural Affairs
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