Pollinator Project

Why pollinators are important

A pollinator is an animal that helps carry pollen from the male part of the flower (stamen) to the female part of the same or another flower (stigma). The movement of pollen must occur for a plant to become fertilized and produce fruits, seeds, and young plants. Pollinators are vital for food production and biodiversity.

Globally, there is evidence that shows pollinators are in decline. It is thought the decline in our pollinators is due to a number of factors including:

• loss of habitat
• chemical misuse
• introduced and invasive plants
• introduced and invasive animals
• diseases and parasite
  

About the Pollinator Project

The Pollinator Project is a Channel Island initiative set up to help stop the decline in pollinating insects. The group works with schools, charities and local organisations. To find out about current initiatives visit the CI Pollinator Project.

Email ecoactive@gov.je for more information.

Pollinator monitoring

The latest activity within the Pollinator Project is a monitoring scheme; Flower Insect Timed Counts (FIT Counts) involving volunteers counting insects outside in warm dry weather.

Why do a FIT Count

FIT counts or Flower Insect Timed Counts is part of the UK’s Pollinator Monitoring Scheme and is a very simple and short survey (10 mins) to count insects. All the resources that you need to follow this are listed below. Your results will help us to understand more about pollinators in Jersey and will feed into a larger UK scheme to help understand changes in numbers of pollinators. This is a great chance to get involved and be part of a national scheme that will help target changes needed to assist our pollinating insects.

How to get involved

FIT Counts collect data on the total number of insects that visit a particular flower, ideally chosen from the list of 14 target flowers. FIT Counts can be done anywhere, including gardens and parks, in warm, dry weather between April and September. The resources below will show you the insect groups (you don’t need to know the exact species, just the group they belong to) and flowers and how to do the survey. The recording form for in the field is very similar to the one that you transfer your results to online. You don’t need to have an iRecord account or you can create one to help record all your wildlife sightings.

Resources:

How to carry out a FIT Count 
Field recording form (for use when doing the count)
Online recording form (for use after the survey, online on iRecord)
Local Flower ID guide for FIT Counts Pollinator FIT Count JE Flower ID guide
Local Insect Guide for FIT Counts Pollinator FIT Count JE Insect guide
YouTube Video Guide on how to carry out a FIT Counts

Email wildaboutjersey@gov.je for more information.

Our aspirational targets for 2020

In addition to creating and managing habitat for pollinators on land owned and managed by the project partners, during 2020 the Jersey project partners aim to:

• work with an additional 8 schools, educating the students about pollinators and creating pollinator patches in their grounds
• encourage members of the public to set aside at least 10% of their gardens for pollinators
• work with local businesses to enhance habitat for pollinators on their land
• champion biological recording, leading to a significant increase in the number of insect records held by the Jersey Biodiversity Centre
• establish a pollinator monitoring scheme to find out how insect pollinator populations are changing in Jersey

2019 aims:

• create 8 pollinator patches in Jersey school sites
• have 50 householders who have set aside 10% of their garden specifically for pollinators
• create 10 pollinator patches in community spaces
• have 10 businesses who have encouraged pollinators onto their land
• increase the number of insects records held at the Jersey Biodiversity Centre
• monitor key spaces in Jersey for pollinators so that we have accurate date

To find out more or to get involved visit the CI pollinator Project.

Project background

The Pollinator Project was originally setup as a Société Guernesiaise initiative by Barry Wells and Vanessa Crispini-Adams in Guernsey in 2017. The project really captured the imagination of delegates during last year’s Inter-Island Environment Meeting (IIEM), the theme of which was environmental partnership. Following the IIEM it was decided that the Pollinator Project was such a fantastic initiative that it should become a Channel Island project and be rolled out across the islands.

Several organisations and interested parties have come together, in partnership, to bring the Pollinator Project to Jersey in 2019. Organisations involved so far includes:

• Government of Jersey
• Jersey Bee Keepers’ Association
• Jersey Biodiversity Centre
• Jersey Trees For Life
• National Trust For Jersey
• Natural Jersey
• Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society
• Societe Jersiaise
• The Good Jersey Life

Visit CI Pollinator Project to read about the aims of the project and how you can get involved.