Global study outlines risk to pollinators
Print Edition
BEES and other pollinators face increasing risks to their survival, threatening foods such as apples, blueberries and coffee worth billions of dollars a year, according to a global study released yesterday.
Pesticides, loss of habitat to farms and cities, disease and climate change were among threats to about 20,000 species of bees as well as creatures such as birds, butterflies, beetles and bats that fertilize flowers by spreading pollen, it said.
“Pollinators are critical to the global economy and human health,” said Zakri Abdul Hamid, chair of the 124-nation report.
Between US$235 billion and US$577 billion of world food output at market prices depends on pollinators, he said, adding that the food sector also provides jobs for millions of people.
Ever more species of pollinators are threatened, according to the first-ever study by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
“Regional and national assessments of insect pollinators indicate high levels of threat, particularly for bees and butterflies,” it said.
In Europe, for instance, 9 percent of bee and butterfly species were threatened with extinction.
The study pointed to risks from pesticides, linked to damaging effects in North America and Europe, but it said there are still many gaps in understanding the long-term impact.
It also said the impact of genetically modified crops on pollinators was still poorly understood.
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