Rewilding at NETPark

With the success of other rewilding projects in the North East, NETPark is to become the latest of the business parks to take up the challenge.

What is rewilding?

Rewilding means to restore and protect natural processes and wildlife areas and provide connectivity between such areas to protect keystone species. In rewilding the north’s business parks we aim to join up the green areas and create safe and wild gardens to help essential pollinators such as bees, wasps, butterflies, hoverflies and even moths.

Why is rewilding important and what impact does it have on the economy?

Pollinators and in particular bees have an absolutely essential role to play in the food chain. In the UK alone their services are worth around £691 million a year in terms of the value of the crops they pollinate. It would cost the UK at least £1.8 billion a year to employ people to do the work of pollinators – bees do this for free! We need to ensure bees have sufficient wildflowers to carry out their work by providing them with lots of areas full of a diverse range of nectar rich flowers.

What are the implications of losing pollinator insects?

Honeybees are by far the most important pollinator on the planet but over-industrialisation, the destruction of natural habitats, the use of pesticides, and the climate crisis are all forcing their alarming decline. If we lose pollinating insects this will have a major impact on the billion-pound food industry. Pollinators are essential to fertilize plants. Humans and other animals rely on pollinators to produce nuts and fruits that are essential components of our healthy diet.

How can tenants get involved?

We have initially identified 2 areas to start with at the rear of Discovery 1 and the side of Discovery 2 (both are adjacent to the Wildlife corridor). Initially tenants can read about the project on our website and newsletter. If tenants would also like to visit the areas please do pop out there and have a look at the flowers that are growing there and ask us further questions. This is very much an “evolving” project which will look very different in the many years to come. The project has also been logged on the Buglife “B-Lines” project which means it is listed on the UK Road Map for pollinators – a bit like the motorway for bees!