Blenheim Palace and Rowse Honey are celebrating after winning a top Government award recognising their joint commitment to protecting pollinators and enhancing biodiversity.

The duo have been named a Bees' Needs Champion at an awards ceremony led by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs' (DEFRA). The awards aim to raise awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators by recognising individuals, groups and organisations that have made exceptional efforts to support pollinators.

Starting in 2022, Blenheim Palace joined forces with Rowse Honey to deliver an ambitious conservation project to transform the Oxfordshire estate, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, into a thriving haven for pollinators, such as butterflies, honeybees, mining bees and damselflies. It set out to restore pollinator habitats, including supporting existing wild bee colonies, enhancing soil health, reconnecting fragmented ecological corridors and regenerating wildflower meadows across the estate.

As part of the initiative, 50 acres of former arable fields have been transformed into rich, biodiverse habitats, and 300 acres of new woodlands have been undersown with wildflower grassland. The project's success has been clearly measurable, with over 740 colonies of wild bees, 23 species of butterflies, and the return of 11 nationally declining bird species, such as skylarks and song thrushes, to areas restored under the pollinator strategy.

Roy Cox, Managing Director of Estates at Blenheim Palace, said: "We're incredibly proud to receive the Bees' Needs Champions Award. This recognition reflects the hard work and passion of our teams and our shared mission with Rowse Honey to protect and enhance the Blenheim Palace estate's natural ecosystem. Preserving this, and the species that depend on it for future generations, is an important part of Britain's Greatest Palace's ongoing Land Strategy, and a leading example of pollinator-first land regeneration on a heritage estate in the UK." 

Svitlana Ilchenko, Brand Manager at Rowse Honey, added: "This award is a testament to what can be achieved when like-minded partners come together with a shared purpose. At Rowse Honey, protecting the pollinators and working with Blenheim Palace to create a lasting legacy for biodiversity has been truly inspiring. By creating habitats where bees, butterflies and birds can thrive we can reverse the decline that pollinators face."

For more information about Blenheim Palace and Rowse Honey's partnership, visit www.blenheimpalace.com/stories/rowse-pollinator-partnership.html.