“Getting the National Pollinator Strategy right will not only complement, but also elevate and boost existing action by the National Federation of Women’s Institutes and other organisations. Action, above and beyond existing initiatives, is expected and needed.” Sybil Graham, National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), speaking at a Nov 2013 parliamentary briefing for Conservative Peers and MPs.
The National Pollinator Strategy (NPS) was published on 6 March 2014 for eight weeks of public consultation ending on 2 May. The final NPS is due in June. At the historic June 2013 Bee Summit, which Friends of the Earth hosted with the NFWI, Waitrose and The Co-operative, Lord de Mauley, Defra Minister of State, stared that the NPS would meet the 7 tests set by top UK scientists – see FoE’s briefing http://www.foe.co.uk/bees7tests
This briefing summarises where FoE think the draft consultation NPS is useful and where it needs significant improvement if it is to be effective and commensurate to the task. It is vital that the Government shows true leadership and high ambition if the decline of bees and other pollinators is to be reversed.
