Highlights from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) science report warns of fewer bees, other pollinators – Published Feb. 26, 2016
Photo by Julie Vickers taken at the Pollinator Garden at the Sam Houston National Forest District Office
Many species of wild bees, butterflies and other critters that pollinate plants are shrinking toward extinction, and the world needs to do something about it before our food supply suffers, a new United Nations scientific mega-report warns.
The 20,000 or so species of pollinators are key to hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of crops each year — from fruits and vegetables to coffee and chocolate. Yet 2 out of 5 species of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, are on the path toward extinction, said the first-of-its-kind report. Pollinators with backbones, such as hummingbirds and bats, are only slightly better off, with 1 in 6 species facing extinction.
More than three-quarters of the world’s food crops rely at least in part on pollination by insects and other animals.
One of the biggest problems, especially in the United States, is that giant swaths of farmland are devoted to just one crop, and wildflowers are disappearing
“Pesticides, particularly insecticides, have been demonstrated to have a broad range of lethal and sub-lethal effects on pollinators in controlled experimental conditions,” the report said. But it noted more study is needed on the effects on pollinators in the wild.
The report is the result of more than two years of work by scientists across the globe who got together under several different U.N. agencies to come up with an assessment of Earth’s biodiversity, starting with the pollinators.
Key facts to consider about pollinators and their importance:
- 20,000 – Number of species of wild bees. There are also some species of butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, birds, bats and other vertebrates that contribute to pollination.
- 75% – Percentage of the world’s food crops that depend at least in part on pollination.
- $235 billion-$577 billion (in U.S. dollars) – Annual value of global crops directly affected by pollinators.
- 300% – Increase in volume of agricultural production dependent on animal pollination in the past 50 years.
- Almost 90% – Percentage of wild flowering plants that depend to some extent on animal pollination.
- 1.6 million tons – Annual honey production from the western honeybee.
- 16.5% – Percentage of vertebrate pollinators threatened with extinction globally.
- +40% – Percentage of invertebrate pollinator species – particularly bees and butterflies – facing extinction.
Read the full article here written by Seth Borenstein for the Associated Press