The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is an organisation in the UK that makes efforts to monitor and conserve

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera ...

s and their habitat.

History

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust was established by Dave Goulson in 2006 with a grant of £49,900 from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

. There were serious concerns for the ‘plight of the bumblebees’, as the populations of bumblebees have significantly declined in the last 80 years - two UK species have become nationally extinct and several others have declined dramatically. The charity has three main aims: * Supporting the conservation of all UK bumblebees, whether they are rare or common. * An increase in the awareness, understanding and education about bumblebees and the social, environmental and economic benefits they provide. * Ensuring the trust is sustainable, effective, and responsive to the challenges ahead. In 2012 the Bumblebee Conservation Trust launched its national Bees for Everyone project to raise public awareness of the threats bumblebees face and to help rare bumblebees through active conservation work to safeguard, restore and create habitats for them. This successful project formed partnerships and has since evolved into new projects. Four of these projects focus on the two rarest bumblebee species in the UK, the Shrill Carder and the Great Yellow bumblebee. The fifth project, 'Pollinating the Peak', has spread into the Midlands and focuses on the Bilberry bumblebee. The final ongoing project is the reintroduction of the Short-haired bumblebee, which has previously gone extinct in the UK.Bumblebee Conservation Trust 'Our Projects'. 2016. Retrieved 04 November 2016
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Structure

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is a charitable organisation registered with the

Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government with responsibility for the regulation of charities in Scotland. OSCR is the independent regulator and registrar for more than 24,000 Scottish cha ...

and Charity Commission for England and Wales. The Trust has over 9,000 members. Its main office is in Scotland, located at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

and it has a registered office in Eastleigh, near Southampton. The Trust also has a number of conservation staff based remotely across the UK in the areas where the UK's rarest bumblebees occur.

References

External links

Bumblebee Conservation Trust
{{conservation of species Biology organisations based in the United Kingdom Bumblebees Charities based in Scotland Organizations established in 2006 University of Stirling