Friends of the Earth has declared that efforts to support the recovery of bee species in the UK will be ineffective unless the government takes wider steps to limit human impacts on bee health.

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The international environment group, a staunch supporter of the campaign to ban neonicotinoid pesticides in the EU, made the announcement on Thursday following the release of a report by researchers at the University of Reading. The Reading report shows that numerous iconic bee species are in decline across the UK, including the county's rarest solitary bee, the large mason bee, which is facing extinction in Wales.

The report points to intensive farming and unsustainable urban development as key reasons for the species' dramatic declines. Changes in agricultural practices since the middle of last century, including intensive grazing of pasture, increases in pesticide use and a loss of meadowland and hedges have reduced bees' habitats and impacted on the variety and availability of food, affecting their nutrition. These changes are also held as having had major impacts on a range of other insect and animal species, including marked shifts in farmland bird populations.

The researchers also indicated that expanding urban sprawl is taking its toll on bee habitat.

Friends of the Earth has called on the UK government to back a Bee Action Plan, which would include considerations for insect pollinators in agriculture, development and other areas of policy. Following the release of the study, Professor Simon Potts from the University of Reading's Centre for Agri-Environment Research, backed the call.

Potts and colleagues who contributed to the study suggested that, in addition to formulating a National Plan to support bees, the government should provide advice to landowners on bee-friendly management. They also urged individuals and wildlife groups to continue monitoring activities and grow plants that attract bees. The researchers encouraged developers to include bee-friendly habitat in new developments, adding "This would be in-line with the National Planning Policy Framework which aims to achieve biodiversity gain."

The Reading study focused on 12 threatened species of bee. The UK is home to over 250 bee species, though 20 have become extinct since 1900.

Friends of the Earth spokesperson Sandra Bell said, "The report highlights the problems faced by many of the UK's bees. While recent moves to ban some of the worst bee-harming pesticides are welcome, this in itself won't solve bee decline. The Government must urgently introduce a Bee Action Plan to tackle all causes of bee decline including those identified as key in this report."

In light of the forthcoming EU restrictions, covering use of neonicotinoids on plats attractive to bees, Dr Tom Pope, Research Entomologist at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, said "Farmers have until December 1, 2013 to reassess their pest management options."

Domestic bees as well as wild insects are under pressure in Europe; Dr Pope added that the latest winter-loss survey for honeybees in the UK (2011-2012) suggests that on average 20 per cent of all honeybee colonies died out over the winter period.