Kerry Nicholson sent us this latest news:
South Belfast Quaker Meeting House has been on Marlborough Park North in South Belfast for nearly 60 years. It is a quiet residential location just off the bustling Lisburn Road shopping district. Our Meeting is small by most church standards with about 40-50 attending on Sunday mornings. Quakers have a strong commitment to the environment with a testimony to work towards sustainability. Our members are particularly keen to support eco initiatives.
Over the past two years, South Belfast Quakers have been updating our garden to attract more pollinators by planting lots of wild flowers in the bedding areas around the building. We have also stopped mowing areas of the lawn around the meeting house to let more plants grow.
We decided to declare our grounds as a Conservation Area for the Native Irish Honey Bee as we want to support our native biodiversity.
Declaring our Meeting House grounds is just a first step. We hope to extend the Conservation Area to include our Burial Ground later in 2023.
Belfast Quakers have encouraged local beekeepers to use our Belfast Burial Ground as an apiary for the Native Irish Honey Bee. The bees at this location benefit from being beside wonderfully tended gardens with lots of different flowers and plants to feed on.