New research from Royal Holloway University in London has outlined the threats and opportunities for pollinating insects and other animals, many of which are at risk due to a combination of interrelated factors, including climate change, habitat loss and exposure to certain pesticides.

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1. Corporate control of agriculture at the global scale (-)
2. Sulfoximine, a novel systemic class of insecticides (-)
3. New emerging viruses (-)
4. Increased diversity of managed pollinator species (+)
5. Effects of extreme weather under climate change (-)
6. Reductions in chemical use in non-agricultural settings (+)

Big ag: Can corporate agriculture reverse pollinators’ fates?

Consolidation in world agriculture, with land and raw materials  becoming concentrated in the hands of a dwindling number of players, was seen as a threat, but one where a paradigm shift could stand to benefit pollinators.  

Sarina Jepsen, Deputy Chair of the IUCN’s Bumblebee Specialist Group, said, “The homogenization of agriculture effectively means that corporations are applying blanket production systems to landscapes that are vastly different, significantly reducing the diversity and number of native pollinators.” However, Royal Holloway’s Professor Brown said, “Such global domination provides an opportunity to influence land-management to make it favourable for pollinators at huge scales.”

He did offer one major caveat, noting that, “This would require the agri-food industry to work closely together with NGOs and researchers.”

Prof Brown said governments and influencers in civil society and academia must continue to encourage positive trends, like recent reductions in chemical use in gardening and some sectors of agriculture, arguing this could be a major benefit for pollinators. However, given the current entrenched positions - and massive imbalance of power and political influence - in major debates on issues like the future of farm payments in the UK, neonicotinoid insecticides or action on climate change, getting major corporate players and civil society groups to engage meaningfully could prove to be a difficult task.

On the subject of new insecticides, Lynn Dicks from the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge said, "Identifying environmental issues in advance, before they become large scale, allows society to plan responses and reduce environmental risks before they are upon us. It is a routine part of strategic planning in financial management, and it should also be routine in environmental planning and policymaking. Many of the pollinator issues we identified on the horizon can be responded to right now, for example by working with corporations already controlling large areas of agricultural land to develop pollinator management strategies, or by planning research on the sub-lethal effects of sulfoxaflor before it is widely used.”