The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is seeking to appoint a new Trustee who can play a pivotal role in making sure our finances are used and managed appropriately, prudently, lawfully and in accordance with our aims and objectives. 

Deadline for applications is Friday 19th July 2013.

Working closely with the Trust’s CEO and Finance Manager, s/he will monitor the Trust’s financial matters and report to the Trustee Board about the financial health of the organisation, in line with good practice and legal requirements. The Trust is currently installing a new accounts system and therefore a working knowledge and / or experience of SAGE is highly desirable.

Full details about the post, including a list of duties and person specification, can be found here.

An extinct British bumblebee species will get a boost today as a new generation of queens are released on the edge of Kent.

Experts have spent two weeks collecting Short-haired bumblebees from farmland in southern Sweden and today they will be reintroduced to the RSPB’s reserve at Dungeness in Kent. Conservationists have hailed the story as a sign of hope for all of the UK’s bumblebees.

The project, backed by Natural England, RSPB, Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Hymettus, began last year with an initial pilot reintroduction which followed four years of work with local farmers to create the ideal wildflower habitat for bumblebees across Romney Marsh and Dungeness.

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The State of Nature report was launched today, revealing the poor state of many of our habitats and wildlife populations. This report was produced through collaboration between 25 environmental charities in the UK, including the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Worryingly, it shows that two thirds of the insect species analysed have declined over the past 50 years.

Flowering plants, which provide the vital nectar and pollen that bumblebees are wholly dependent upon, have been shown to have declined by a staggering 58% in Scotland, a figure also mirrored in the rest of the UK. This is extremely concerning, and once again proves how much more work needs to be done to protect and improve habitats for our wildlife. We have collaborated with RSPB on a number of projects to create habitat for bumblebees, and believe that such partnerships are important for the welfare of bumblebees and other wildlife.

Please find below our CEO’s reaction to the announcement yesterday, Monday 29th April 2013, that the EU will go ahead with a two-year ban on the use of three neonicotinoids on crops attractive bees.