https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/

The story of bumblebees over the past century has been one of decline. These declines have occurred mainly because of large-scale changes to the way the countryside is managed. There has been a huge reduction in the nationwide density of the flowering plants that bumblebees feed on, as well as the sheltered corners that they nest and overwinter in. As bumblebees only feed on flowers, they need far more plants than equivalent species which are able to also eat leaves or roots.

As bumblebees are great pollinators, they have a key role in producing much of the food that we eat, through the pollination of many commercial crops. If bumblebee and other insect pollinator declines continue, the cost of pollinating these plants by other means would increase the price of our food. They also help pollinate many wildflowers, allowing them to reproduce. Without this pollination many of these plants would decline and there would be a drastic reduction in biodiversity.

What can be done?

Fortunately, there is much that can be done to benefit bumblebees. You can support our partner, the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust to raise awareness of the plight of the bumblebees amongst the general public, as well as landowners, policymakers and other interested parties.

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You can also help on an individual level with perhaps the simplest thing to do, planting some bee-friendly plants in your garden, to flower between March and September. You can find some great information here https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/gardeningadvice/  As gardens cover over one million acres in the UK, this presents a great opportunity to provide food for bumblebees.

People can also get involved in survey work.  By doing this, we can see what bumblebees are present around the country, and how their distributions change over time. By monitoring the species like this, we can detect warning signs and take action to help. For more information, please see https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/surveys/

Here at Homegrown we are proud sponsors of the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust and have implemented a number of initiatives to support the work they are doing.

On all our works we offer a free of charge service to sow some bee friendly seeds, as well as offering to put up insect hotels to help with solitary bees and other insects.

Back at our head office we’re also creating a bee friendly garden complete with luxury bee hotel and are also taking part in the bumble bee survey.

https://www.froglife.org/

Froglife is a national wildlife charity committed to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles – frogs, toads, newts, snakes and lizards – and saving the habitats they depend on.

Since 1989 Froglife has been at the heart of efforts to conserve native amphibians and reptiles. Throughout this time, they have initiated a number of national and regional projects, and remained a central voice for public advice on issues surrounding reptile and amphibian conservation. Froglife’s work falls into three strands: on the ground conservation, environmental education and communication (the provision of advice/information).

Here at Homegrown we’re very keen to help Froglife in its ambitions and we are proud sponsors of their charity.

As such, we always offer to leave habitat piles, that are great places for reptiles and amphibians, on every site we work on. All our staff have downloaded the Dragonfinder App so they can record species in places that Froglife don’t normally visit such as next to railway line and highway verges. This will hopefully hep them in their research. You can also help by downloading the app here and recording what you find https://www.froglife.org/dragon-finder-app/

https://www.bats.org.uk/

Bats play an important role in many environments around the world. Some plants depend partly or wholly on bats to pollinate their flowers or spread their seeds, while other bats also help control pests by eating insects. In the UK, some bats are ‘indicator species’, because changes to these bat populations can indicate changes in aspects of biodiversity. Bats might suffer when there are problems with insect populations (because our bats feed on insects) or when habitats are destroyed or poorly managed (for example, some bats only live in large woodlands).

Sadly, many bat species around the world are vulnerable or endangered due to factors ranging from loss and fragmentation of habitat, diminished food supply, destruction of roosts, disease and hunting or killing of bats.

In the UK, bat populations have declined considerably over the last century. Bats are still under threat from building and development work that affects roosts, loss of habitat, the severing of commuting routes by roads and threats in the home including cat attacks, flypaper and some chemical treatments of building materials. Other potential threats can include wind turbines and lighting if they are sited on key bat habitat on near roosts.

Homegrown are proud sponsors of the Bat Conservation Trust and are keen to help in the everyday work we do.

On all sites we suggest ways to keep vegetation and trees where they are and if they must be removed we suggest leaving standing deadwood to help with bat habitat.

With climate change at the top of the agenda for both local and international governing bodies, organisations are coming under increasing pressure to effectively monitor and reduce the impact they have on the environment. Many say that we are on a precipice of causing irreversible damage to our planet, and we agree!

Homegrown are cognizant of the impact our operations can have on the environment. As one of the largest vegetation management contractors in the country we want to minimise the effect we have on our surroundings. For us, it’s not about creating a perception of environmental awareness and an eco-friendly business ethos; it’s about actively looking at how our operations effect the environment and developing a strategy that has a measurable impact.

We maximise the use of timber and arisings that we remove during vegetation management operations, providing woodchip to power stations for use as a renewable energy source. We have supplied Slough Power Station with over 100,000 tonnes of woodchip generated from our other operations. Our biomass woodchip service can help you to effectively deliver your environmental strategy, reduce your carbon footprint and enhance your CSR profile.