What Grows Here – Best for Bees

What Grows Here — Best for Bees extends the original What Grows Here? flora identification project with a focus on plants that support native bee populations and other pollinators.

Building on the app developed for the 2014 GovHack competition, the Best for Bees initiative adds curated plant data identifying species known to provide habitat, forage and nesting resources for South Australia’s native bees. The project supports home gardeners, land managers and schools in making planting decisions that benefit local pollinator communities.

The project

Users can search for native plants suitable to their location that are also recognised as pollinator-friendly. Plant records are drawn from the State Flora Catalogue and the Atlas of Living Australia, with additional bee-habitat data sourced from research partners.

The tech

The project uses the open What Grows Here? data platform, extended with pollinator trait data. All data is published openly and the application source code is available on GitHub.

About

Native bees are critical pollinators for Australian ecosystems and agriculture. Unlike European honeybees, most Australian native bees are solitary and depend on diverse native plant communities for survival. The Best for Bees project aims to make it easy for anyone to contribute to native pollinator conservation through informed planting choices.