MPA and BBCT sign Memorandum of Understanding

Organizations to work in partnership to help arrest the decline of ecologically important bumblebees

THE Mineral Products Association (MPA) and Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT) have established a new partnership to help conserve bumblebees and help them thrive.

A new Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations will be the basis of partnership working that will include facilitating access to quarry sites for monitoring, advising and educating quarry staff on measures that help bees, including the creation of suitable habitat and training quarry staff to recognize and survey their sites for bees.

‘MPA members have a long legacy of high-quality restoration and are uniquely placed to protect and enhance biodiversity and help arrest the decline of rare and threatened species and habitats,’ said Nigel Jackson, chief executive of the MPA.

‘This partnership will enable the industry to help do what we can for bees, which are under threat and play a crucial part in maintaining ecosystem services.’

Lucy Cooper, acting chief executive of the BBCT, said: ‘Bumblebees are a crucial part of the UK’s ecosystem and our natural heritage, so it’s alarming to see how numbers have been declining in recent years.

‘The partnership with the MPA means we will be able to work with landowners we have not previously been able to reach, ensuring that the UK’s rarest bumblebees have the habitat they need in order to survive.

‘By working with MPA members to increase the availability of habitat for bumblebees, BBCT hopes to begin a reversal in the recent fortunes of these important insects.’