Scientists behind the pan-European STEP (Status and Trends of European Pollinators) initiative have this week called on governments to give greater consideration to insect pollinators.

The calls came after an event organised by STEP and the EU. At the EurBee meeting held in Halle, Germany between 3rd and 6th September, scientists pledged to make develop clear information resources on the health and future of Europe’s major pollinators, in order to better inform policy makers. They asked that, in response, government take decisive action to protect Europe’s pollinators, which a multitude of studies have shown to experiencing declines.

Pollinating insects are thought to contribute to agricultural production in 150 European crops, or 80 per cent of commercially grown plants. As these crops are either partially or entirely dependent on insects for their pollination and yield, the value of insect pollinators to the EU is estimated to be around €22 billion a year.

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STEP therefore maintains, “Declines in managed pollinators, such as honeybees, and wild pollinators, including bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverflies, are… of growing concern as we need to protect food production and maintain wildflower diversity.” STEP scientists have pledged to thoroughly examine the “status and trends of all Europe's pollinators” to better develop a strategy going forward.

Their research will go to develop the first ever European Red List for bees, which will provide an essential tool for politicians and land managers to direct conservation efforts targeted at wild bees

Scientists pledge to make clear findings on pollinators

Professor Simon Potts, of the University of Reading, the UK and European coordinator of STEP said at a dedicated meeting on Wednesday 5th, "To help Europe secure sustainable food production and conserve its biodiversity we need to provide policy makers with clear evidence of who pollinates our crops and flowers and what are the best options to safeguard pollination services in a changing world."

STEP scientists have examined over 32 million records of pollinators and plants in Europe and claim that, not only have numbers of many significant insect pollinators and plants they rely on dropped off, but communities of pollinators are becoming more uniform in their composition. This means the communities will be less resilient overall.

Dr Christoph Sandrock of Swiss Bee Research Centre commented that, despite the protestations of agribusinesses and governments including the UK’s, agrochemicals have been identified as contributing to losses. He said, "We are now finding strong negative effects of pesticides, not only in honeybees and bumblebees, but also solitary bees– as Europe has more than 2,500 solitary bee species we expect the implications of our research to be very wide ranging."

The scientists said that, in addition to assessing the health of Europe’s pollinators, they will evaluate the effectiveness of measures intended to protect them. Dutch researcher Dr David Kleijn said, "Our analysis is the first to systematically test whether agri-environment options are actually benefiting bees."

In July scientists from the BTO published a study in the Journal of Applied Ecology which showed that, although they could be effective, a lack of widespread uptake and failure to provide year-round food has meant most agri-environment measures intended to boost farmland bird populations have been deeply flawed.

The BTO scientists’ study was the first to reveal positive effects from environmental stewardship schemes on a national scale. They expressed hope that forthcoming changes to ELS and HLS schemes in January would bring benefits for farmland birds.

The STEP scientists said that, in addition to providing clear information for policy makers, they would continue to develop information resources for other stakeholders. The project has already released factsheets targeted at farmers, which are available in 15 languages http://step-project.net/page.php?P=4&SP=14

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