Bee-rilliant event to boost interest in pollinators

Friday 15 February 2019

Gardeners, farmers and flower lovers are bee-ing invited to buzz on over to a special event this weekend to learn more about the creatures that keep the island thriving.

The showcase will take place at Le Rocquier, with Saturday focused on 'Wild volunteering', and the next day designated 'Seedy Sunday'.

The theme for the weekend this year is pollinators, their importance and what we can do to help them.

The entirety of funds raised over the weekend will go to Jersey Trees for Life as they endeavour to maintain and create more squirrel bridges to keep our wildlife safe from our busy roads, which can be life-threatening for them.

Pictured: The money raised will go to keeping these creatures safe.

On Saturday, there are talks and training events for volunteers.

These talks encompass a wide variety of subjects, ranging from how to survey butterflies and their identification, to Bats for Beginners and chats about Jersey's reptiles and amphibians. They take place from 09:30 until 17:00. If children want to come, they must be accompanied by an adult. 

Pictured: If you come along on Saturday, you'll get taught how to spot bats.

Then on the Sunday the furious seed swapping will begin.

The Hot Bananas choir is performing at 12:30, and there'll be a visit from the star of Channel 4 series 'The Autistic Gardener', Alan Gardner. He’s going to be answering questions, and at 14:00 he’ll draw the top three raffle prizes. =Events on the Sunday run from 10:30 - 14:30.

There will also be stalls from all of these places and more besides: Jersey Gardening Club, Jersey Mencap, JSPCA, Samares Manor, Plastic Free Jersey, The Bee Keepers’ Association and The National Trust for Jersey.

Meanwhile, the Société Jersiaise Marine Biology Section in partnership with Jersey Marine Conservation will also be allowing islanders to experience their 'Touch Tank'. It offers the chance to do something many wouldn't get to do normally: touch and see marine animals up close. It aims to "educate islanders about the importance of healthy marine habitats and their decline".

Pictured: The team behind the Touch Tank.

Talks will also be back on Sunday, and will touch on food too.

Wild food foraging, 'What have trees ever done for us?',  'Searching for bats over the rainbow' and \Witches and Unicorns: how saving one species can help save another' are some of the topics attendees will be able to learn about.

Pictured: On Sunday there'll be a lot of these around - why not come and get some for your garden?

In case this is all sounding a little exhausting, don’t worry - there’s a cake stall too.

It is hoped that Wild About Jersey and Seedy Sunday will spark an interest in nature and its beauty and to persuade more people to become 'Wild Volunteers'. Already volunteers dedicate around 5,000 hours a year to conservation projects in Jersey, but there’s always more that can be done, according to Research Ecologist Nina Cornish.

Seedy Sunday's Fiona Murphy commented: “At the heart of the event is the seed swap table with thousands of seeds just waiting to be snapped up. This idea of sharing seeds has been around for centuries and today we swap seeds, to help biodiversity, raise awareness and because it’s fun!

“Seedy Sunday Jersey loves supporting the richness and diversity we have in our little island, while bringing the community together to share and learn how to preserve it for future generations. We’d like to thank all the organisations and charities joining us on the day and our sponsors; the Eco Fund and EMR for supporting the event.”

For more information, click here.