The EU-funded ProPollSoil project has expanded its social media presence with a dedicated Instagram account. The new account complements the already existing community on LinkedIn and will be used to raise awareness about soil-dependent pollinators.
The launch has taken place during a particularly significant month for the environmental and sustainability community. Every May, in fact, initiatives such as “No Mow May” highlight the importance of pollinators and encourage people to leave lawns, road verges and wildflower strips unmowed. Letting wildflowers like daisies, dandelions, and clover go to flower supports pollinators like honeybees, wild bees, and butterflies at a critical point in their lifecycle by providing nectar and pollen when other food sources are still scarce. As temperatures rise, many pollinators hatch and begin to swarm, looking for food, building nests, laying the next generation of eggs, and pollinating many wild and crop plants in the process. While these measures benefit well-known pollinators like honeybees and butterflies, there is a second group of pollinators—solitary wild bees, bumblebees, beetles, and even ants—that also provide essential pollination services while depending directly on an understudied habitat: soils.
Through behind-the-scenes content, fieldwork footage and project updates, the ProPollSoil Instagram account will help inform the public about these fascinating pollinators and their lives in the soil, highlight the project’s citizen science campaign, and engage with the community of people interested in soils and pollinators on the platform. Follow the newly launched ProPollSoil Instagram account here and learn more about wild pollinators and their intricate lives in the soil.
