If you were to ask someone from Newcastle what the city is known for, they'd likely say the beaches, Silverchair or perhaps its 90s-esque moniker, "steel city".
Key points:
- Newcastle City Council has voted unanimously to support the development of a pollinator city plan
- It aims to increase native flora, and will be included in the council's environmental strategy
- Local apiarists are welcoming the move
Councillor Elizabeth Adamczyk wants Novocastrians to add "pollinator paradise" to that list.
"We are the first city in Australia to commit as a local government to being a pollinator-friendly city," she said.
Cr Adamczyk is a lecturer in planning, with a PhD in human geography, as well as a councillor for Newcastle City Council.
She tabled a proposal — which was unanimously backed by the council — to ensure the rapidly growing city is built with pollinating species in mind.
"Native butterflies, bees, birds, moths, bats, flies, and beetles shuffle pollen from flower to flower and pollinate up to a third of the food that we eat," she said.
"Our biodiversity corridors are broken and it is imperative we reconnect them to allow pollinators to thrive."
What is a pollinator city?
Cr Adamczyk's proposal wants to see native-friendly foliage corridors through the city to help various species establish themselves, and move about through the area.
"I am excited to imagine the city buzzing with life with a flourishing pollinator habitat all through our city," she says
"On roadways, median strips, on the walls, balconies and roofs of buildings, in gardens and parks, and along transport corridors."
Pollination-friendly infrastructure has been successfully trialled in the United Kingdom, including bus stops capped with specific types of foliage to support pollinating animals.
Hunter Valley-based bee educator Dani Lloyd-Prichard said the infrastructure should "bring in a fantastic array of insects and pollinators".
"It's probably about time when you look at the concrete jungle that a lot of our cities are, and Newcastle is included in that," she said.
Ms Lloyd-Prichard said rethinking the use of some pesticides, including neonicotinoids which are known to negatively impact both bees and birds, was a crucial move highlighted in the plan.
"We're all linked, we can't survive without our pollinators, they're so important," she said.
But what about varroa mite?
The devastating varroa mite was discovered at the Port of Newcastle (PoN), and spelled the destruction of thousands of honey-bee hives.
Sadly, new cases are still being recorded in the Hunter region.
But researchers believe varroa mite doesn't impact native bees.
Native beekeeper Vicky Sherry is based in Carrington, Newcastle — quite close to the PoN.
She has two native bee hives, and is working to establish a third.
"It involves planting some flowering vegetables … we have lots of snow peas, and sweet peas, cherry tomatoes, all the really nice tasting things," she said.
"Our bees go and pollinate them and we get lovely crops."
She said the idea of creating a pollinator paradise for native fauna was "marvellous".
"The more flora we can have in the inner city, native or otherwise, the better," she said.
"Native bees are fabulous for people with kids. They don't fight. They don't have a stinger. They're just so friendly.
"I always have them on my hands when I go out the back to the veggie patch, it's a delight."