An eight-year-old Lancaster schoolgirl has taken her campaign to save Britain's bees all the way to Parliament.
Elouisa Carrington from Skerton created a petition at Skerton St Luke’s Primary School, which has attracted around 40 signatures from her friends and teachers.
Elouisa met with Cat Smith, MP for Lancaster and Wyre, to talk about why protecting bees matters so much, and handed over her petition for Ms Smith to take to Westminster.
Ms Smith has since presented Elouisa’s petition to Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, the Nature Minister, ensuring that the voices of local children who care passionately about protecting our wildlife are being heard at the heart of government.
“I was absolutely delighted to meet Elouisa and hear about her campaign," said the MP.
"It is fantastic to see someone so young taking action to protect our natural environment, and her petition shows that children in Skerton understand just how important bees are to our ecosystem and our future.
"I was very pleased to take her petition to Parliament and present it to the Nature Minister, who is making sure that Elouisa’s campaign gets the attention it deserves. Her voice really can make a difference.
"Elouisa should be incredibly proud of what she has achieved, and I hope her campaign inspires even more young people in Lancaster and Wyre to stand up for the wildlife on their doorstep."
A third of British wild bees are in decline and a quarter of European species are at risk of extinction.
Environmental campaigners Greenpeace have said that bee losses are particularly concerning because they are more efficient pollinators than other animals, and that the most significant threat to bees and other insects is the loss of their natural habitat – meadows, hedgerows and ponds - with climate change and bee-killing pesticides also wreaking havoc on bees.
To help protect bees, the Government has strengthened guidance around emergency authorisations for pesticides last year and committed to completely preventing the use of banned neonicotinoids in England, while supporting farmers to reduce their reliance on chemical pesticides.
In April, the Government also announced the largest-ever investment in threatened species recovery, with £90m for projects including work benefiting the rare Hawksbeard Bee, which was rediscovered in Hastings after more than 100 years and is being supported through the creation of wildflower areas.
This work comes as part of the Government's 30by30 commitment to protect 30 per cent of land for nature in England by 2030, to restore nature and tackle the climate emergency.
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