Bensons The Juicers’ Orchard Revitalisation Pledge
Bensons The Juicers are pleased and proud to work closely with UK Orchard Network and it’s
members by giving a little back with every bottle of delicious fresh juice or cider that we sell. You can
sip tradition and taste the heritage by joining us in our Orchard Revitalisation Pledge - if you buy our
delicious drinks then for each bottle sold we will donate 5% of the profits to the Orchard Network to
help them in their fight to sustain these vital ecological habitats.
Drink Juice With A Purpose - How Bensons Are Helping Revitalise Orchards
At Bensons the Juicers, we’re part of something special. We rely on nature to help us produce the finest fresh juices, ciders and more, and to do this we have the help of British farmers who supply us with only the finest fresh fruit from their orchards. We’re all about keeping agricultural traditions alive, as we believe that traditional fruit-farming practices lead to the very best quality fruits and juices.
An orchard is a beautiful thing; a bounteous and fertile place conjuring up images of warm early summer days, bees floating among the blossoms, and then later, ripe fruit bending the branches downward, begging to be picked…
Are traditional orchards in decline?
But not all of our traditional orchards are in such ideal condition. Many orchards across the UK are unmanaged and in decline, and as traditional orchards are vital habitats for a great deal of wildlife, losing this habitat has serious consequences for many species. This is why traditional orchards were added to the list of Priority Habitats in 2007.
How do declining orchards affect the environment?
Traditional orchards are a diverse habitat for wildlife as they are made up of several different habitat elements, including elements of woodland, hedgerow and meadow grassland. This mosaic of habitats supports huge biodiversity, including butterflies, bumblebees, birds, bats and beetles. Fruit trees age uniquely and because of this, they can support a wide range of rare and interesting species. You can find out about the different kinds of wildlife supported by orchards at https://ptes.org/campaigns/traditional-orchard-project/orchard-biodiversity/orchard-habitat/
What are the problems with orchards in the UK?
That’s why keeping our orchards in fine fettle is so important, not just for our native wildlife, but also for tourism, and the living history of British estates, farms and landscapes. This mission is spearheaded by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species which led to the Orchard Network; a group of organisations dedicated to protecting the UK’s orchard habitats.
Since 2007, PTES’ orchards team, with the help of over 700 volunteers and nearly 1500 orchard owners, has identified over 42,000 individual orchards in England, Wales and Scotland.since the middle of the 20th century, around 90% of traditional orchards have been lost to development, neglect, or conversion to intensive modern orchards which contribute negatively to biodiversity. If this wasn’t problematic enough, surveys revealed that 45% of the remaining orchard habitats surveyed in England and 35% of those in Wales were in declining condition. Overwhelmingly, the chief culprit for this decline is the lack of replacement tree replanting, meaning that many remaining old orchards will simply disappear without action. [ source: https://ptes.org/campaigns/traditional-orchard-project/about-this-project/ ]
If you would like to know more about The Orchard Network and how you can get involved or help further, you can visit their site at https://www.orchardnetwork.org.uk/about
Join the movement - drink juice with a purpose.
