Tough times need a hero – and it could be you!
Peterborough charity PECT is hoping to recruit an army of green minded volunteers in the city to help create a network of wildflower pathways to boost wildlife, local habitats and the community.
Could you be a hero for your community, for wildlife and for our planet?
2020’s coronavirus pandemic has caused an unprecedented time of anxiety, financial instability, and feelings of isolation. However, it has also brought communities together and highlighted wonderful acts of kindness.
National and regional lockdowns have meant that, more than ever, we have made the most of our gardens and local green spaces for exercise and to regain a feeling of normality – because even in a crisis, nature continues.
The pandemic has had a massive impact on changing people’s everyday patterns and behaviours, and this has had effects on the environment too. The global economic slowdown and lack of travel delivered a fall in carbon emissions, but on the other hand the increase in the use of single-use gloves and masks has created a new waste stream.
Once the spread of coronavirus starts to slow, the world will not simply return to normal, it will be forever changed. This is an opportunity to do things differently and make positive changes by tackling pollution, looking at renewable energy, altering our food systems and the materials and products we use.
What can you do?
Calling all Peterborough residents! Could you be a hero for your community, for wildlife and for our planet? One way to do this is by supporting the charity PECT, which relies on voluntary donations to fund its work, and volunteers to make a difference.
Over the next few months, PECT is looking to create a network of wildflower pathways, linking together existing habitats. The aim is to enhance the natural environment of the city, improving its biodiversity and creating beautiful pollinator-friendly areas. Increasing the abundance of wildflowers is essential to stopping the decline of our native pollinators.
Over 3 million hectares of wildflower-rich habitats have been lost in England over the last 70 years, leading to widespread decline in bees, moths, and insects. This loss of wildflowers has led to half of our 27 bumblebee species declining, with three having already gone extinct, and two thirds of our moths and 71% of our butterflies showing long-term declines.
Much of our surviving habitats now exist as small fragments, leaving populations of insects isolated from each other, separated by intensively managed farmland and urban developments. Many insect species have a very limited ability to move and disperse, and so there is a major risk of them dying out, as the small fragments of habitat they depend on are destroyed or not large enough to sustain a viable population.
PECT aims to reverse the serious decline in pollinator numbers by creating a network of wildflower pathways, linking together existing habitats across the city. Buglife, the leading organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates, has mapped these B-Lines across the UK. Using this map to identify areas in Peterborough where there are gaps, PECT is creating a network of wildlife pathways and green spaces. The charity is working with landowners, communities, schools, businesses, and volunteers across the city.
The project is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, People’s Postcode Lottery, Viridor, and Peterborough City Council.
How can you get involved?
Support environmental action. PECT aims to play a part in tackling eco issues through delivering projects of local, regional, and national significance that make a real difference to the environment and people’s lives. You can donate online or volunteer with the charity’s wildflower planting days. To get involved, visit the PECT website at www.pect.org.uk.
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