Background:

Pollinating London Together is a pan livery group founded by the Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers and the Worshipful Company of Gardeners, born out of a need to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and the decline in insect species, specifically pollinators. Compared to other threatened species, insects and pollinators are much less visible. The decline is largely due to habitat loss, the overuse of chemicals, and climate change. Not only will humans feel the loss of insects, but so will birds and other animals in the food chain, as they will not be able to feed on such insects or the fruit that they enable.

To address this decline, PLT aims to help champion and create pollinator-friendly green spaces, starting in the City of London, allowing all pollinators, including solitary bees, bumblebees, hoverflies, butterflies, moths and beetles, to thrive and for workers and visitors of the City to benefit from the tranquillity of those green spaces.

This lecture will provide a summary of the findings from the pollinator and planting assessments in the City of London, the development of pollinator-friendly planting and the identification of green corridors in the City. It will review the progress and future plans.

Speakers:

Dr Heather Barrett-Mold OBE is Vice Chair of the Pollinating London Together Charity, a Past Master of the Gardeners Livery Company, and founder member of the Livery Climate Action Group.

Heather is a Chartered Scientist, Chartered Horticulturist, and Chartered Environmentalist. Currently a consultant. She was Principal/CEO of Pershore Group of Colleges, and now Vice Chair of Governors at Capel Manor College. She was a member of the Government Advisory Panel on Sustainable Development Education for its lifetime of 5 years, and then Advisor on the Secretary of State Sounding Board. Heather was an expert with the Commission for Sustainable London 2012, and Secretary of State Board member for the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. She is a Fellow of the Linnaean Society, Vice President of the Institution of Environmental Science, Past President of the Institute of Horticulture, and previous Chair of the Science Council.

Dr Konstantinos Tsiolis is a pollinator ecologist. He has recently finished his PhD at the University of Reading, which focused on understanding the nesting preferences of ground-nesting bees in commercial fruit orchards. Since the spring of 2022, he has been working for Pollinating London Together, assessing the pollinator and pollinator-friendly planting diversity of the City of London and adjacent areas. He has also been in close contact with the City of London Corporation, schools and local wildlife groups, spreading awareness of pollinator needs and diversity.