Global confinement is saving bees: Wildflowers appear in cities around the world

 

 

Is this the year that bees will be saved? If so, the achievement would come from the new Coronavirus.

Source: chiledesarrollosustentable.cl

May, 2020.- 

Restrictive measures that, among other things, greatly reduced traffic and pollution, also gave us the advantage of seeing a huge wildflower boom, somehow helping to restore delicate urban plant ecosystems and the timid return of bees. 

In short, rare flowers and declining bee populations could begin to recover during the coronavirus blockade, because now, in almost every city, wild plants of all kinds can grow without being disturbed by the heavy vehicle movement across the roads.

According to Plantlife, Europe's largest wild plant conservation organization, the roadside is in fact the last refuge for many plant species that have been devastated by the conversion of natural grasslands to agricultural land and residential complexes. These narrow strips of meadows can host 700 species of wild flowers.

In recent years, Plantlife botanist Trevor Dines explains, city councils have adopted overly impatient policies, cutting flowers before they ripen and pollination occurs. But the cuts, due to the Covid-19 crisis, were among the first services reduced or even suspended in some countries. And urban plant ecosystems have already begun to recover. 

This also greatly benefits populations of bees, butterflies, birds, bats and all insects that depend on wild plants for their survival. 

In summary, letting many of our plants bloom again can offer pollen and nectar to bees in a loving exchange. On the other hand, approximately 80% of plants use the help of insects or other animals to transport pollen grains from the male to the female part of the plant.

It's Coronavirus time, therefore, nature has been reclaiming its spaces. And it is wonderful to realize how little it would take to leave it alone and live in harmony with the planet we inhabit.