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Three agencies are teaming up to help save the country’s declining bee population, it has been announced.

The Heritage Council is joining forces with Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture to help deliver the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2015-2020.

The initiative is part of a campaign to increase bee populations, some of which are under the threat of extinction.

The Pollinator Plan, launched in September 2015 by the National Biodiversity Data Centre, makes Ireland one of the first countries in Europe with a strategy to address pollinator decline and protect pollination services.

A pollinator is an animal that causes plants to make seeds or fruit.

They are able to do this by moving pollen from one part of the flower of a plant to another part.

Research from the National Biodiversity Research Centre showed that one third of Ireland’s bee species are threatened with extinction.

The annual value of pollinators for human food crops has been estimated at a staggering €53 million in Ireland.

Bees play an important role as “free” pollinators for farmers and gardeners.

The honeybee and the country’s native bumblebees and solitary bees are the main pollinators of crops in Ireland.

It’s believed that a decline in wildflowers is one of the reasons why bees are becoming more extinct here as they are dying of starvation.

According to the Biodiversity Research Centre, Irish people’s tendency to tidy up the landscape rather than allowing wildflowers to grow along roadsides, field margins, and in parks and gardens is playing a big part in reducing these resources for bees.

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The new initiative will see 81 actions being implemented to make the country more pollinator friendly.

The plan hopes to create pollinator highways along transport routes, making our public parks pollinator friendly and encouraging the public to see their gardens as potential pit-stops for our busy bees.

It is also about raising awareness of bees and how to protect them.

Speaking about the partnership, Padraig Brennan from Bord Bia said: “Bord Bia fully supports the Pollinator Plan and will work with the National Biodiversity Data Centre and The Heritage Council to ensure its success.

“It is a critical step in improving the biodiversity value of Ireland’s landscape and is a perfect fit for Bord Bia’s Origin Green sustainability programme which enables the food and drink industry to deliver measurable improvements in their sustainability performance and thereby further enhance the reputation of Ireland as a high quality, sustainable food producer.”

Meanwhile, Chief Executive of the Heritage Council, Michael Starrett, said he hopes the new initiative will be a success.

Mr Starrett said: “The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is a very important.

“However, without a full time administrator to make this vital work happen, the Plan will not be able to deliver.

“We are delighted to be able to work with our partners to move this Plan forward and save Ireland’s bees.”