01 · Habitat
Native Pollinator Habitat Restoration
Design and test nesting and forage environments for selected Australian native ground-nesting pollinators.
Australian Native Bee Pollination | Nomia Project
Native Pollinators · Habitat Restoration · Australian Agriculture
Restoring native pollinator habitat.
Restoring native pollinator habitat.
Building evidence for agricultural resilience.
Nomia is developing a rigorous Australian field-research program to test whether purpose-designed and restored habitat can strengthen populations of selected native ground-nesting bees and, where successful, contribute a complementary layer of agricultural pollination resilience.
Restore habitat. Measure the response. Scale only what the evidence supports.
Native bee reference image · Male four-banded Nomia
~104 ha
Coleambally research site
Long-term evidence platform in the NSW Riverina.
32
Proposed external research sites
Replication subject to approvals and scientific justification.
ACNC
Registered Australian charity
NOMIA BEE AUSTRALIA FOUNDATION LIMITED.
Evidence
Not predetermined success
Positive, negative and inconclusive findings inform decisions.
Scientific engagement
A warm welcome to Amy and Ros
Nomia greatly appreciates the interest and scientific engagement of researchers whose expertise can help strengthen the questions the program is being established to test.
Dr Amy-Marie Gilpin
Nomia warmly welcomes Amy's scientific contribution and her interest in the developing native-pollinator research program.
Meet Dr Amy-Marie Gilpin →Dr Ros Gloag
Nomia warmly welcomes Ros's interest in the program and greatly appreciates her willingness to continue discussions as the research develops.
Meet Dr Ros Gloag →
Habitat is more than flowers
Ground-nesting bees depend on suitable nesting substrate as well
as forage, moisture, seasonal conditions and landscape context.
The environmental purpose
Rebuilding native pollinator habitat in working landscapes
Native pollinators depend on more than flowers.
For ground-nesting bees, nesting substrate, forage, moisture, seasonal conditions and landscape context can all influence whether populations establish and persist.
Nomia is testing whether purpose-designed habitat can materially improve establishment, nesting, persistence and reproductive activity of suitable Australian native ground-nesting bees.
The environmental case comes first
Agricultural value is tested only where ecological establishment succeeds.
Why this matters now
Varroa has permanently changed the strategic context of Australian pollination
Australia now manages Varroa destructor as an established pest.
Managed European honey bees remain essential. The permanent presence of Varroa adds biological, operational and financial pressure to that system and strengthens the case for investigating complementary pollination resilience.
Varroa creates urgency. It does not prove the Nomia proposition.
European honey bee with Varroa destructor · USDA, Public Domain
The Nomia program
One program. Three connected pathways.
Ecological restoration, experimental science and eventual agricultural validation must remain connected.
02 · Evidence
Research and Measurement
Measure habitat conditions, nesting, reproduction, persistence and species response using predefined methods.
03 · Agriculture
Agricultural Validation
Where ecological establishment succeeds, test whether native-bee activity produces measurable crop-pollination value.
The evidence platform
Building the capability to test the proposition properly
Nomia's approximately 104-hectare Coleambally research site is intended to provide the physical capability for repeatable, instrumented and scientifically defensible field research.
Research infrastructure
Infrastructure exists to create controlled, measurable and
repeatable research conditions.
Infrastructure exists to generate evidence
The facility is not the scientific result. Its purpose is to support controlled habitat trials, monitoring and field research.
Protected research
Controlled observation and growing environments.
Engineered habitat
Defined nesting treatments for comparison.
Environmental control
Water, irrigation and habitat conditions.
Monitoring & data
Imaging, sensors and biological records.
Evidence before scale
Coleambally is the starting point, not the national claim.
Wider adoption should occur only after the underlying ecological response has been demonstrated, challenged and replicated.
01
Test
Establish baselines, controls and measurable biological response.
02
Replicate
Challenge promising results across sites, seasons and conditions.
03
Scale only if justified
Translate proven methods into practical land-management approaches.
Nomia Bee Australia Foundation
Restore habitat. Measure the response. Scale only what the evidence supports.
Nomia is building the scientific and physical capability required to determine whether native pollinator habitat restoration can become a practical environmental and complementary agricultural resilience tool for Australia.
Native bee reference image
Donation payment information:
Donations to NOMIA BEE AUSTRALIA FOUNDATION LIMITED are accepted in Australian dollars only.
No physical goods are shipped. Receipts are issued electronically where contact details are provided.
Donations are generally non-refundable, except where a payment was made in error, duplicated, unauthorised,
or where a refund is required by law. Need help?
Contact us.
Primary government evidence
Government Evidence: The Damage Is Already Being Felt
The consequences of Varroa destructor in Australia are no longer merely projections. Australian government agencies are documenting impacts on beekeepers, hive numbers, pollination services and the effectiveness of available Varroa treatments.
Read the Australian Government and state government evidence directly.
Evidence first. Interpretation second.
Individual reports of hive loss, treatment resistance, increased pollination cost or crop impact should not automatically be treated as national averages. Nomia distinguishes documented current impacts from credible future risks and relies wherever possible on primary government and scientific evidence.