From Glasgow to Brighton, Bristol to Sunderland and in between, there are now 100 Living Roof bus shelters in cities across the nation. This notable achievement is just a steppingstone for Clear Channel UK in reaching its overall ambition of 1,000 Living Roofs or 1 in 30 bus shelters nationwide.
With a decline in flower-rich grasslands and flying insects in the UK, Living Roofs – also known as ‘Bee Bus Stops’ – address the need for a healthy ecological network to exist across the country as opposed to proposed solutions that address environmental issues in isolation.
Each Living Roof includes a carefully selected plant mix designed by Clear Channel UK, in collaboration with the Wildlife Trusts, to support native biodiversity and encourage bees and other pollinators.
Taking it a step further, the thoughtfully fabricated modular structures help tackle climate change and increase climate resilience by absorbing falling rainwater and heat, which helps to reduce heat trapped in the atmosphere, thereby helping to reduce the ‘urban heat island’ effect.
Will Ramage, Clear Channel’s Managing Director says, “Reaching this tremendous milestone speaks volumes about how integral our Bee Bus Stops can be to creating greener communities for all. The success of these environmentally conscious bus shelters highlights just one of ways in which we’re working to create a more sustainable future for all, and we can’t wait to achieve our ultimate goal of 1,000 Bee Bus Stops throughout the UK.”
Cardiff Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Cllr Caro Wild, said: “The Living Roofs on Bee Bus Stops help build nature and biodiversity into the fabric of cities. Protecting and enhancing Cardiff’s green infrastructure is an important element of our One Planet Cardiff response to the climate and nature emergencies we’re all facing, as well as our work to ensure clean air for residents. There are 11 bee bus stops in Cardiff now, with many more to come in the future, and that’s the key – individually one bus stop roof isn’t a huge amount of space for nature, but if you think about the number of bus stops in a city, it soon adds up to something much more significant.”
