To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for an update on actions taken by his Department to implement the All Ireland Pollinator Plan 2021-2025.

DAERA officials, led by NIEA, have been actively engaged with development of actions included in the 2021-2025 All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. The Plan now includes 186 actions which span across four themes; providing food, safety and shelter for pollinators and also improving our knowledge of populations through research.

Actions are being delivered by DAERA through various means:

Working closely with grant funded partners, such as Butterfly Conservation and Buglife, to raise awareness of the plan, and develop pollinator actions into project work plans;

The delivery of pollinator friendly management on farmland through the Environment Farming Scheme (EFS) which first opened for applications in 2017. After four tranches, 42 agreements contain the ‘Creation of Pollinator Margins – Annual Wildflower’ option and 3 agreements contain the ‘Creation of Pollinator Margins – Pollen and Nectar’ option. Both options aim to support pollinators. Tranche 5 of EFS opened in 2021. Once Tranche 5 applications have been validated by DAERA, agreements are planned to commence in January 2022. Tranche 6 of EFS is planned to open for applications in 2022.

Engaging with Local Biodiversity Officers to promote community based actions such as ‘Don’t Mow, Let it Grow’ initiatives;

Encouraging an increase number of businesses, organisations and land owners, to sign up as official All-Ireland Pollinator Plan partners;

Working with businesses taking ‘Prosperity Agreements’ to include actions for pollinators;

Actively managing NIEA sites and country parks in a sustainable, pollinator-friendly manner;

Working alongside plant health teams and AFBI to reduce threats from invasive species, and pesticide use;

Delivering the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme in Northern Ireland to identify population trends, impacts and threats.

Two representatives from DAERA sit on the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan Steering Group, reporting back actions and progress. Following the first plan phase (2015-20), a publication was produced summarising the breadth of initial actions completed ‘Working together for Biodiversity’ available to download from the All-Ireland Pollinator website. https://pollinators.ie/resources/ Information is currently being gathered for a review of the 2021-2025 All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.