The Bumblebee has been in serious decline for the past 20 years, followed later by it’s non-bumbling cousin, but thanks to an unlikely partnership with the British Army, its prospects are now significantly improved.
Many complain about the army taking up large areas of the British countryside such as parts of Salisbury Plain, Dartmoor and around Otterburn in Northumberland, but what is less well known is the role the same army play in wildlife conservation. This is partly deliberate as part of the PR, but quite a bit is accidental really as less intensive farming and no building on live firing ranges is quite good for wildlife…as long as the animals and insects remember to keep their heads down.
The Castlemartin training area on the Welsh coast contains some of the most spectacular coastline in the country and crucially happens to have very good habitat for bumblebees, amongst other wildlife. Now the army along with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust have gotten together to open up parts of this area for what is being termed the Bumblebee walk.
Taking a route between the village of Bosherston and heading and Merrion camp, the path will be planted with specially chosen bumblebee friendly flowers such as red clover, knapweed, bird’s foot trefoil and common vetch.
As this is a live firing range, the path has to thread its way through between danger areas, and as such parts of the site will be permanently off-limits, but this is probabaly as much of a relief to the bees as it is for the people since the path of the trail avoids any areas of unexploded shells.
If you’re out and about in Pembrokeshire, why not try out the new bumblebee trail and see how many you can count.
More South Wales Links:
Visitor attractions around Bosherston (beginning of the walk)
Hotels in Pembroke (near Bosherston)
Holiday cottages in Pembrokeshire
