Get Cumbria Buzzing

Combating biodiversity loss by creating havens for pollinators throughout Cumbria.

Partners: Get Cumbria Buzzing Partnership (includes: Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Highways England, Butterfly Conservation, Buglife, and local authorities)
Date: 2019, Ongoing live project
Services: Digital Mapping (GIS), Data Management, Identification Training

Get Cumbria Buzzing is a community-orientated project that aims to boost pollinating insect populations by creating a large network of wildflower havens throughout the county. During the project we collaborated with local communities, local authorities, Highways England, and various partners across Northwest Cumbria.

Over the last 75 years, the UK has lost 97% of flower rich meadows; in the past 50 years, half of bee, butterfly, and moth species have declined; currently, more than 30 species of bees face extinction, while 60% of flowering plants are in decline.

To help combat this catastrophic biodiversity loss, the Cumbria Wildlife Trust asked CBDC to work alongside local and national experts to create a pollinator species list. We collated existing records of pollinators in Cumbria in addition to creating an extensive digital database that will assist us in tracking pollinator health throughout the county and also serve as a repository for future pollinator data. This data will help with habitat intervention and conservation work, and allow us to produce helpful recording tools, such as a Cumbrian Pollinator Distribution Atlas.

Alongside the creating the database, our Data Officer, Moustafa, created an online map of pollinator records in Cumbria and tools to assist the public in recording pollinator data, and our Recording Officer, Stuart, is involved with training local recorders to identify and record pollinator species.

Above:
The pollinator network map we created, as featured on the Get Cumbria Buzzing website.
Visit : Get Cumbria Buzzing website.

CBDC Interactive Map

Above:
We created an interactive map to display ‘Grey Square’ challenge areas (under recorded areas) and the survey event locations for the Get Cumbria Buzzing project area.
Visit : our interactive version of this map here.

Get Involved

If you’re interested in getting involved with recording local pollinators in your area, please download the Get Cumbria Buzzing recording form and check how to submit records to CBDC. Feel free to use our live pollinator map to discover what’s in your area and plan recording trips.

– Submit a Record: Get Cumbria Buzzing recording form

Links and Credits:

– Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Get Cumbria Buzzing website
– Marmalade fly and solitary bee photography © Chris Lawrence
– All images sourced from Get Cumbria Buzzing

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Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre

The Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre at Tullie House Museum, Carlisle keeps wildlife information for the county of Cumbria. Tullie House Museum, in its role as a local natural history museum, has collected and disseminated records of wildlife in Cumbria since its inception in 1893. From the early 1990s the Museum has developed a computerised database of species and habitat records in Cumbria and has taken the central role in providing a local biodiversity data service for the county. This role was restyled as Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre (CBDC) in 2010, a not-for-profit organisation hosted by Tullie House Museum and advised by local stakeholders.
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreThursday, October 1st, 2026 at 1:23am
Over the next month, you might see more ladybirds coming indoors - especially if you live in more urban areas of Cumbria like Carlisle and Kendal. While native ladybirds will over-winter in garden sheds, leaf litter and crevices in woody plants or fences, the non-native Harlequin (Harmonia axyridis) is looking for somewhere a little warmer to spend the winter diapause and will enter houses to congregate in corners. These ladybirds are originally from Asia so need drier and warmer conditions than the native species.

The Harlequin is very variable - hence the name. The two examples shown here were collected at the same time in the same place! Some colour patterns can look very similar to the native species but generally Harlequins have brown legs and undersides while native species tend to have black legs/underside. Harlequins tend to be quite large too compared to the more variable sizes seen in the 45+ native species.

Over-wintering ladybirds won't do any damage and shouldn't pose a problem wherever you find them. But if you do find some in your home and they have brown legs, you can be confident that they are the Harlequin. Do record any ladybirds that you see so we can better understand the key locations of Harlequins across Cumbria and how they might be interacting with the natives.

And if you want to see a plentiful number of Harlequins this month, Mayor's Drive near Bitts Park in Carlisle is usually a good spot.
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Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreWednesday, September 23rd, 2026 at 4:57am
Cumbria has over 1500 County Wildlife Sites, many on private land. We are working with @CumbriaWildlifeTrust to provide free surveys of these sites so we can understand their condition and help guide landowners to find management advice and support.

Find out more about County Wildlife Sites in general and across Cumbria using these resources - and contact the Cumbria County Wildlife Sites Project if you think you have a site and would welcome a survey.

https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife/county-wildlife-sites
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-sites-and-nature-conservation/local-sites-and-nature-conservation
Or the LWS Hub: https://www.localwildlifesites.org/
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Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreWednesday, September 16th, 2026 at 1:12am
As well as the excellent Plantlife resources and Waxcap Watch, CBDC has two upcoming waxcap training sessions - Thursday 8th October and Sunday 1st November. We're finalising details but do let us know if you would like more information/have priority booking by completing our expressions of interest form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5JQ99XCSMMIyUX641NL8EqGz6gXH4C2hItqp9EFL-iFXhKw/viewform?usp=publish-editor
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Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreMonday, September 14th, 2026 at 5:51am
It is apple season! The apple harvest looks good again this year - albeit with possibly smaller apples than usual. Traditionally managed orchards are good sites for biodiversity but their location and condition in Cumbria are not well understood. If you manage a traditional orchard, tell us about it. Do get in contact if you would be willing to share information about your orchard.
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Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreFriday, September 11th, 2026 at 12:56am
Ever wondered who works at @CBDC and what they do? Over the next few months, we'll feature a different team member each month and find out a little more about their role. So watch out in October for the first profile.....

We asked a well-known AI chatbot to create a cartoon of the CBDC team and it developed this image. Find out what it got right and what it got wrong in the coming months.
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Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreWednesday, September 9th, 2026 at 1:06am
Biological recording in the autumn months sees a shift from recording flowering plants and summer migrant birds to fungi and winter migrant birds. Look out for the different fungal fruiting bodies that are appearing widely across different habitats at the moment - this year is already looking very promising for fungal forays.
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
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