Short-haired bumblebee first transported on lamb boats makes return trip to Britain to stem decline in species vital for pollination

A bumblebee which died out in the UK, but survived in New Zealand after being shipped there more than 100 years ago, is to be reintroduced here under plans announced today.

Small populations of the short-haired bumblebee were established on the South Island of New Zealand after being transported there on the first refrigerated lamb boats in the late 19th century to pollinate crops of red clover.

The bees will not suffer from jet lag as they will be in hibernation when they are transported on planes in cool boxes, according to Natural England.The short-haired bumblebee became extinct in this country in 2000, but the populations on the other side of the world have clung on — although conservationists say they are unprotected and under threat.

Now Natural England, along with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT), the RSPB and bee research charity Hymettus, have launched a scheme to bring the species home.

Poul Christensen, Natural England's acting chairman, said: "Bumblebees are suffering unprecedented international declines and drastic action is required to aid their recovery.

"Bumblebees play a key role in maintaining food supplies — we rely on their ability to pollinate crops and we have to do all we can to provide suitable habitat and to sustain the diversity of bee species.

"This international rescue mission has two aims — to restore habitat in England, thereby giving existing bees a boost; and to bring the short-haired bumblebee home where it can be protected."

Insects will be collected in New Zealand and a captive breeding plan established, with a view to releases of the bees from 2010 at Dungeness, Kent, where they were last seen.

The scheme's project officer Dr Nikki Gammans said the bumblebee was a "keystone species" which was vital for ecosystems and were key to pollinating around 80% of important crops here.

And she said: "By creating the right habitat for these bumblebees, we are recreating wildflower habitat that has been lost, which will be good for butterflies, water voles and nesting birds."

Gammans said the main reason for the declinein bumblebee species in the UK, where many are under threat and several are "on the brink", was the destruction of habitat and wildflowers.

"Over the last 60 years, we've lost 98% of our wildflower meadows," she said.

"Since the Second World War, grants were given to farmers to dig up the countryside and use more intensive methods such as pesticides, which has dramatically affected bumblebees."

But using agri-environmental schemes which reward farmers for taking bee-friendly measures such as leaving wildflower strips at the side of crop fields and grazing land less intensively, it is hoped the species can make a comeback.

Gammans said she had received a fantastic response from local farmers in Romney Marsh, near Dungeness, who recognised the value of the bumblebee as a key pollinator of crops.

The RSPB reserve at Dungeness, one of the last remaining areas where the short-haired bumblebee existed before extinction, had lots of native wildflowers and been managed for red clover which is "fantastic" for bees.

Gammans has already been over to New Zealand to collect some bees which are now at London Zoo being assessed for the risk they may bring back diseases.

She plans to return to the other side of the world in December and collect as many as 50 to 100 bees, which can be used in a captive breeding programme to support multiple releases of the species back in England over several years.

It is hoped the reintroduced bees will not go the way of those which disappeared from this country, because of the efforts to restore habitat on farms in the South East and on the reserve at Dungeness.

Malcolm Ausden, an ecology adviser at the RSPB, said that as the reserve was the last place the short-haired bumblebee was seen — in 1988, before being declared extinct in 2000 — it was fitting there should be attempts to reintroduce it there now.

And he said: "The site is a haven for bumblebees and a huge amount of work has been done to improve the site for them and encourage the flowering plants they love."