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Bees are essential for our survival, but their numbers have shrunk by 33% in Britain in the past decade alone.

And it’s not just a wildlife disaster � along with other insects like moths and hoverflies, bees pollinate around a third of the food we eat. They also pollinate the plants we use to make our clothes.

Pesticide use, and the loss of wildflower-rich habitats, mean that bee populations have fallen over the last 50 years. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp urgently need to stop and reverse this decline.

Helping to save bees was one of the founding aims of our green mobile phone service, Ecotalk + RSPB. Under our unique partnership, we use the money from our customers� phone bills to buy back land for nature and save wildlife.

In July 2019, Ecotalk customers helped the RSPB buy Fairburn Tips, an old dumping ground for coal mining waste in »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappst Yorkshire.

Today, it’s a perfect habitat for bees and other pollinators, with newly-introduced heather taking root to create a lowland heath habitat.

Since the Fairburn Tips purchase, Ecotalk + RSPB customers have helped to buy an extension to the Berney Marshes Nature Reserve � a vital home for migratory waterfowl and breeding waders in Norfolk.

Together, we soon hope to save Horse Common in the New Forest, as well as Wast Neaps on the Island of Yell, Shetland, home to skuas, merlin, snipe and otters.

All this land will be restored and given back to nature, helping plants, pollinators, birds and mammals thrive in a diverse habitat.

The loss of wildflower habitats is a serious problem for the survival of bees and other pollinators, as they’re unable to move across the countryside as our climate and landscape changes. In fact, it’s predicted that 40-70% of species could go extinct if a solution isn’t found.

The is an initiative by our partners, Buglife, creating thousands of ‘insect pathways� running through the country, along which they’re planting wildflower-rich habitat stepping stones to link existing wildlife areas together.

In this way, bees and other pollinators can move around the countryside once again, making it easier for them to cope with changes in climate.

The B-Lines project is aiming to restore at least 150,000 hectares of flower-rich habitat, and everyone’s invited to play their part � .

First, to stop this deadly neonicotinoid pesticide being used once more.
Second, plant a diverse range of flowering plants that come into bloom at different times, so there’s always food available for bees.