€5,000 award for farmer with best biodiversity plan

There are just days left to enter a competition to win €5,000 (£3,543) by showcasing a farmland project that boosts bees and other biodiversity.

The 2015 European Bee Award aims to reward farmers, landowners, land managers or rural entrepreneurs who contribute an “outstanding and innovative” project to protect bees and other pollinators in the farmed environment.

Two prizes are up for grabs – a top prize of €5,000 (£3,543) and a runner-up award of €2,500 (£1,772).

See also: Protect pollinators, the next ‘big ask’ on farms

The European Landowners’ Organisation (ELO) and European Agricultural Machinery (Cema) are offering the awards. The deadline for applications (PDF) is 15 July.

Projects that might be considered include:

• Managing part of the farm in ways that benefit pollinators
• Improving the availability of flowers and other resources that pollinators require
• Changes to agronomic practices or the use of farm machinery that are pollinator friendly.

An independent jury, chaired by Charles Godfray, University of Oxford, and supported by international experts, members of the European Institutions and NGOs will select the winners.

Prof Godfray said: “There is much concern about the fate of bees and other pollinating insects in European farmed landscapes.

“The prize will be awarded to a land manager who, possibly together with a partner organisation, has developed and implemented a novel practice that helps to reduce the effects of farming operations on honeybees and other pollinators.”  

The project “Flowering frames”, submitted by the Bavarian Farmers’ Association, emerged as the winner of the inaugural European Bee Award last year.

For the project, farmers sowed flower strips around maize fields and other crops to help bees, insects and other wild animals to find food and habitats.

To find out more about the awards and how to enter, visit the ELO website