It is estimated that half of the world’s insect species are rapidly declining, and a third are threatened with extinction. The rapid loss of biodiversity worldwide calls for an integrated global response. Factors such as urbanisation, deforestation, monocultural practises and the ongoing impacts of global warming have consequently posed threats to ecosystems. The global cost of biodiversity is valued at $125-140 trillion (US dollars) per year, with one in three bites of food connected to pollination.
Pollinators play an essential role in ecosystem survival and food production. However, pollinators also continue to be affected by critical habitat loss, especially in urban areas where land clearing is the most prominent.
And that’s where PlantingSeeds unique revegetation project the ‘B&B Highway’ was born as a practical solution. The B&B Highway stands for: Bed and Breakfasts for Birds, Bees, Butterflies and Biodiversity, and aims to provide a green connective corridor for pollinators to rest and habituate.
The project works with schools and various communities and has already spread across three states of Australia, with over 120 sites already revegetated since 2019. Working with schools as a site choice for planting and habitat creation also provided an opportunity for students to learn about biodiversity. PlantingSeeds has worked with the Department of Education to create a comprehensive curriculum that focuses on biodiversity, pollinators and the environment, essentially planting the seeds of biodiversity knowledge for our future generation.
The B&B Highway was designed to provide proactive conservation strategies for pollinators who are often overlooked in sustainable development efforts. Allowing people to see that urban areas are and can be major biodiversity hubs is critical throughout the project.
PlantingSeeds undertakes independent and collaborative research to create the necessary habitat for native pollinators in each region. The independent research uses citizen science data to identify what pollinators reside in the region, what plants they are attracted to and what kind of habitats will best support them.
The significance of citizen science is also explored collaboratively with B&B Highway participants who are encouraged to record their observations on biodiversity data platforms such as iNaturalist and CSIRO’s Atlas of Living Australia.
Australia is classed as a ‘megadiverse’ region with 17 other countries, making up less than 10% of the earth’s surface but supporting over 70% of the world’s biodiversity. Many of Australia’s species are endemic, meaning they occur nowhere else! However biodiversity research has found that Australia has only officially named 25% of current species, leaving an opportunity for citizen science to help fill in the biodiversity data gaps.
PlantingSeeds BioBlitz is an annual event that rallies schools across the country to participate in collating biodiversity observations to advance scientific research and conservation efforts. Our 2022 annual BioBlitz saw over 60 schools participate, with over 2345 observations and 635 species recorded! Many of the schools that participated were located in cities, helping biodiversity data better foster biodiversity hotspots across urban environments.
Thanks to the ongoing support we have received for the B&B Highway project, PlantingSeeds has been able to revegetate 2000 square metres of green space with over 5000 native plants to support local pollination. The project has worked with over 5000 participants and helped introduce over 100, 000 native pollinators, leading to an estimated 10% increase in biodiversity.
PlantingSeeds provides a positive, practical and scalable solution to the decline in pollinators and biodiversity.
To learn more about our B&B Highway click here.
To register for our 2023 Annual BioBlitz click here.