Nikki Gammans

Nikki Gammans leads the short-haired bumblebee reintroduction project, whose primary aim is to successfully reintroduce Short-haired bumblebee, Bombus subterraneus, back to the UK to form a self-sufficient, self-sustainable population. This bee was last recorded in Dungeness, Kent in 1988 and was officially declared extinct in 2000 by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). The bee is also declining across its native European range except for some Baltic countries. Sweden is the only known country where the population of this bee is expanding, having recolonized Norway after being declared extinct there in the 1950’s. For each of the next few years the project aims to collect emerging queens from hibernation and bring these back to the UK for release after being declared free of diseases and parasites. A number of reintroductions will need to take place in order to achieve a self-sustainable population.