B.E.E. Heroes

Why is this issue a global problem?

 

CCD is a global problem because our food supply depends on plant pollination.  If the crops don't get pollinated, then they won't grow and make food and people might die.

 

A lot of people study the problem of bees dieing.

 

Of the 100 crop species responsible for providing 90% of food worldwide, 71 of these crops are dependent on bee or insect pollination. Up until now concerns around agricultural chemicals and honeybees have focused on the impact of eonicotinoid pesticides are having and a temporary ban has been imposed on three types by the European Commission. Yet, studies show that fungicides used on many crops pollinated by bees can also have serious consequences. Attention now needs to turn to these chemicals and to ensure that tests are conducted when they are registered for use which protects honeybees.

 

Currently available global data and knowledge on the decline of pollinators are not sufficiently conclusive to demonstrate that there is a worldwide pollinator and related crop production crisis54. Although honey bee hives have globally increased close to 45% during the last 50 years55, declines have been reported in several locations, largely in Europe and Northern America. This apparent data discrepancy may be due to interpretations of local declines which may be masked by aggregated regional or global data. During the same 50-year period, agricultural production that is independent from animal pollination has doubled, while agricultural production requiring animal pollination has increased four-fold (reaching 6.1% in 2006). This appears to indicate that global agriculture has become increasingly pollinator dependant over the last 50 years. However, human activities and their environmental impacts may be detrimental to some species but beneficial to others, with sometimes subtle and counter-intuitive causal linkages 56, 57. Pollination is not just a free service but one that requires investment and stewardship to protect and sustain it. There should be a renewed focus on the study, conservation and even management of native pollinating species to complement the managed colony tradition. Economic assessments of agricultural productivity should include the costs of sustaining wild and managed pollinator populations58.

 

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54 Ghazoul J, 2005. “Buzziness as usual? Questioning the global pollination crisis”. TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution Vol.20 No.7 July 2005.

55 Aizen M. A. 2009. “The Global Stock of Domesticated Honey Bees Is Growing Slower Than Agricultural Demand for Pollination”. Current Biology 19, 1– 4, June 9.

56 Thomas C. D, and Jones T.M. 1993. “Partial recovery of a skipper butterfly (Hesperia comma) from population refuges: lessons for conservation in a fragmented landscape”. Journal of Animal Ecology 62: 472-481.

57 Benedek P, 1996. “Structure and density of lucerne pollinating wild bee populations as affected by changing agriculture”. Acta Horticulturae 437: 353-357.

58 Ingram M, Nabhan G. and Buchmann S. “Global Pesticide Campaigner”, Volume 6, Number 4, December 1996.