Annual Review 2011 If we and the rest of A word from our Chair the back-boned animals were to disappear 2011 has been an exciting year of growth ‘Get Britain Buzzing’ with pollinating Raising awareness and increasing overnight, the rest of and development for Buglife. Thanks insects. With more than two-thirds understanding of invertebrates is an the world would get to funding from the Tubney Charitable of UK pollinators in decline and important element of Buglife’s work and Trust we have been able to spend this many threatened with extinction, the this year with funding from the Robertson on pretty well. But year reviewing our operations and plight of insect pollinators is urgent. Trust we developed an education pack for planning for growth. We opened our first In 2011 we began a pilot project to primary schools in Scotland. Thanks to if the invertebrates office in South West England, expanded create ‘B-Lines’ across the landscape funding from the Environment Agency were to disappear, our operations in Scotland and made by restoring strips of wildflower we launched a new website on crayfish for preparations for a dedicated marketing and habitat in the Yorkshire countryside the public and professionals. In March we the world’s ecosystem communications team to give us a stronger and began work in Scotland to ‘Get launched Buglife Facebook and Twitter conservation delivery capacity. The Tubney Glasgow Buzzing’ creating wildflower accounts and had great success using would collapse grant is being invested in Buglife over a habitats in an urban environment. We these accounts to promote our spring oil 3 to 5 year period and will help Buglife also celebrated the installation of our beetle survey for which we received over a Sir David Attenborough to grow, and recruit more staff, so that sixth living roof in central London. thousand records. We have also delivered we can do more to conserve bugs into an extensive outreach programme the future. 2011 has been an important Our work on brownfields continues, including public talks, workshops and year for representing invertebrates in and with funding from Scottish Natural bug walks for hundreds of people. environmental policy and planning. Heritage we were able to continue the ‘alert mapping’ for brownfields in Buglife’s achievements and progress in Buglife has been making the case for Scotland. We also re-visited the 2008 ‘All conserving invertebrates during the year invertebrates that form the bulk of our of a Buzz in the Thames Gateway’ report would not have been possible without biodiversity by voicing our concerns over data to establish how many brownfield the support of our members and donors, DEFRA’s Biodiversity 2020: A strategy sites had been developed or degraded in funders and volunteers. Thanks also to for England’s wildlife and ecosystem the last 4 years to highlight the need for our expert member organisations and services report. We have been fighting for urgent change in government policy. other conservation bodies who have adequate consideration for invertebrates helped our work this year. Buglife’s staff, in the new National Planning Policy We continued to work internationally volunteers and trustees have continued Framework, a key part of the Government and thanks to funding from the Darwin to work tirelessly for invertebrate reforms to make the planning system less Initiative ‘Challenge Fund’ Buglife conservation and their enthusiasm and complex, more accessible and promote visited St Helena, a UK Overseas energy is greatly appreciated. sustainable growth. Territory, in April 2011. The aim of the visit was to build relationships and We continue to protect and improve lay the foundations for invertebrate habitats for invertebrates, and in May conservation on St Helena, one of the Alan Stubbs we launched an exciting new project to world’s most isolated, inhabited islands. Chairman A big thank you Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Plantlife, Pond Conservation, North London Conservation, Co-operative, Cath Hodgson, Organic Gardeners, Polmont Probus Club, To the many people and organisations who Cecil Pilkington Charitable Trust, Cobb Charity, Royal Entomological Society of London, have given us so much support and help this Conchological Society of Great Britain and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Buglife’s aim is to halt the extinction year: our members and donors, who have Ireland, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Rutland Natural History Society, Scottish of invertebrate species and to contributed enormously; our staff who have Entomological Society, Dipterists Forum, Don Natural Heritage, SITA Trust, Staffordshire About Buglife achieve sustainable populations Peregrine Trading Ltd, D’Oyly Carte Charitable worked tirelessly to promote invertebrate Invertebrate Group, Sussex Biodiversity of invertebrates. We are working Trust, Dumfries and Galloway Council, conservation; and our trustees who have Record Centre, The Cecil Pilkington Charitable hard to achieve this through: enthusiastically and professionally overseen Dumfries and Galloway Environmental Trust, Sumptuosity, The Broads Authority, The Buglife. A special mention goes to Buglife’s Records Centre, Ecover, Edinburgh Central Scotland Green Network Development Buglife is the only organisation in not exist without bugs. Invertebrates • Undertaking practical conservation Entomological Club, Environment Agency, volunteers for their huge contribution. Fund, The Darwin Initiative, The Esmée Europe devoted to the conservation of underpin life on earth and without them projects that will contribute to Essex Environment Trust, Falkirk Environment Thanks also to our dedicated President and Fairbairn Foundation, The Grasslands Trust, achieving our aim. Trust, Flora Locale, Fothergills, Friends of all invertebrates, and we are actively the world’s ecosystems would collapse. Vice-Presidents for promoting invertebrate The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), The Manifold Epping Forest, Friends of Roundwood Primary working to save Britain’s rarest little • Promoting the environmental conservation so effectively. Trust, The Oxfordshire Biological Records School, Garfield Weston Foundation, Give animals, everything from bees to Invertebrates are facing an importance of invertebrates and Centre,The Pennon Environment Trust, The We are grateful to the following organisations As You Live, Glasgow City Council Landfill raising awareness about the Percy Hadley Foundation, The Rainford Trust, beetles, worms to woodlice and extinction crisis that have provided financial support or other Tax Fund, Glasgow City Council, Habitat Aid, challenges to their survival. The Riverfly Partnership, The Robertson Trust, jumping spiders to jellyfish. There Today, thousands of invertebrate species gifts this year. Hanson Ltd, Hawke sport optics, Henry C are more than 40,000 invertebrate are declining and many are heading Hoare Charitable Trust, Hesley Group, Jack The St Mary’s Charity, The Tubney Charitable • Assisting in the development of A & D Charitable Trust, Amateur Patston Charitable Trust, Karris Ltd, Lancashire Trust, The Wildlife Trusts, The Wild Trout species in the UK, and many of these towards extinction. Worldwide 150,000 legislation and policy that will ensure Entomologists’ Society, Anglian Water, and Cheshire Entomological Society, Leggett Trust The Will Charitable Trust, Thorntons are under threat as never before. species could be gone by 2050 if the the conservation of invertebrates. Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Charitable Trust, Lincolnshire Wildlife Budgens, Ulster Wildlife Trust, University of world does nothing. Each invertebrate • Developing and disseminating Group, Balfour-Browne Club, Bees, Wasps Trust, Lowepro, Manchester City Council, Leeds, Veolia Environmental Trust, Waste Invertebrates are vitally important to a species plays a unique and important knowledge about how to conserve Recycling Environmental Limited (WREN), and Ants Recording Society, Biological Marchwood, Mercedes Formula One, Minox, healthy planet – humans and other life role in the web of life, but once lost, they invertebrates. Wessex Water, Wharfedale Naturalist Society, Recording in Scotland, British Arachnological Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation forms could not survive without them. cannot be replaced. Many invertebrates Society, British Dragonfly Society, British Fund, Natural England, Neals Yard, Norfolk Whitley Wildlife Trust, Wiggly Wigglers, Wildlife • Encouraging and supporting Entomological and Natural History Society, Wildlife Trust, Open Air Laboratories (OPAL), watching supplies, Wildsounds, World of The food we eat, the fish we catch, the have incredible life stories yet to invertebrate conservation initiatives British Myriapod and Isopod Group, BBC Octink, Opticron, Patagonia Environmental Woodlice, Xerces Society, Yorkshire Naturalists birds we see, the flowers we smell and be told, and we literally don’t know by other organisations in the UK, Wildlife Fund, British Wildlife Publishing Ltd, Grants, People’s Trust for Endangered Species, Union,Yorkshire Ventures. the hum of life we hear, simply would what we are on the brink of losing. Europe and worldwide. 2 3 Ditches are important for bugs Representing the small things 2011 has been an important year the invertebrates that form the bulk for restructuring the way wildlife of our biodiversity by voicing our conservation is carried out in England. concerns over DEFRA’s Biodiversity Buglife has been making the case for 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem