​Pollinators: First global risk index for species declines and effects on humanity

Disappearing habitats and use of pesticides are driving the loss of pollinator species around the world, posing
a threat to "ecosystem services" that provide food and wellbeing to many millions -- particularly in the Global
South -- as well as billions of dollars in crop productivity.

This is according to an international panel of experts, led by the University of Cambridge, who used available evidence to create the first planetary risk index of the causes and effects of dramatic pollinator declines in six global regions.

​Read More Here  
Read the Journal Paper 
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Industrial Agriculture Threatens Native Pollinators and Biodiversity, but Agroecology Holds Solutions 

“[Agroecology] aims to protect pollinators not only by its effects in agroecosystems, but also by reducing poverty and improving people’s livelihoods, by both recovering local knowledges and developing local research technologies as well as implementing territorial planning and [agroecological] policies considering the needs of local communities”

• Industrial agriculture has been recognized among the main threats to native insect pollinators, and has been linked to a decline in pollinator populations,  richness, and visitation.
• Conversely, agroecology, the term applied to the revitalisation, practice, and dispersal of traditional ecological knowledge and its applications in agriculture, strives to create resilient, diversified agricultural systems with low external inputs and increased self-reliance.
• Authors used a case study from Chile to present strategies for sustainable food production and pollinator conservation in biodiversity hotspots (highly endemic biogeographic regions threatened by human activity), which often overlap with prime agricultural zones.
• The authors suggest four pillars to help guide changes in food production and protect pollinators. These include land sharing, restoration, and preservation; internal inputs; localized research and technology; and territorial planning and agroecological policies.
• Authors also suggest specific action items to build knowledge and promote agroecology, including: performing localized studies to understand biodiversity and describe species; prioritizing and support of small-scale, agroecological farms; developing local sustainability standards for agricultural businesses; forming international legal frameworks which recognize and protect local diversity; and a general shift towards truly sustainable, local, sovereign, community-based, ecosystem-centric food production. 

To read the full article by Patricia A. Henríquez-Piskulich and colleagues here.  
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From "This Month in Conservation Science", August 2021, Virginia Working Landscapes (VWL) 

Roads can be barriers to wildlife of all sorts.  But much less is known about the impact of roads on pollinating insects such as bees and to what extent these structures disrupt insect pollination, which is essential to reproduction in many plant species.  Read what the researchers found.  

Wasps are valuable for ecosystems, economy and human health(just like bees).  Read about their role here and here.

Pioneering research reveals gardens are secret powerhouse for pollinators. Home gardens are by far the biggest source of food for pollinating insects, including bees and wasps, in cities and towns, according to new research.

Click Here

​Shade for Butterflies.  Read all about it.

​Pollution Endangers Wild Bees  
​Citizen  Science: Data Collection on Bee Pollinators