From science to society: implementing effective strategies to improve wild pollinator health

Abstract

Despite a substantial increase in scientific, public and political interest in pollinator health and many practical conservation efforts, incorporating initiatives across a range of scales and sectors, pollinator health continues to decline. We review existing pollinator conservation initiatives and define their common structural elements. We argue that implementing effective action for pollinators requires further scientific understanding in six key areas: (i) status and trends of pollinator populations; (ii) direct and indirect drivers of decline, including their interactions; (iii) risks and co-benefits of pollinator conservation actions for ecosystems; (iv) benefits of pollinator conservation for society; (v) the effectiveness of context-specific, tailored, actionable solutions; and (vi) integrated frameworks that explicitly link benefits and values with actions to reverse declines. We propose use of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conceptual framework to link issues and identify critical gaps in both understanding and action for pollinators. This approach reveals the centrality of addressing the recognized indirect drivers of decline, such as patterns of global trade and demography, which are frequently overlooked in current pollinator conservation efforts. Finally, we discuss how existing and new approaches in research can support efforts to move beyond these shortcomings in pollinator conservation initiatives. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Natural processes influencing pollinator health: from chemistry to landscapes’.

Protecting pollinators and our food supply: understanding and managing threats to pollinator health

“…Loss of habitat is undoubtedly a driver of wild bee declines and as such agri-environmental schemes encourage the planting of wildflowers to promote pollinator health (Stout and Dicks 2022). However, wildflowers can be contaminated with pesticides, creating a potential trade-off (David et al 2016).…”

Informing policy and practice on insect pollinator declines: Tensions between conservation and animal welfare

“…Coordinated action to improve wild pollinator conservation first became highly publicized in the United States through "The Forgotten Pollinators" book and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum pollinators' campaign (Buchmann and Nabhan, 1996). Since the 1990s, numerous pollinator conservation actions and policies have been implemented or proposed (Williams, 2003;Byrne and Fitzpatrick, 2009;Hall and Steiner, 2019;Marselle et al, 2020;Stout and Dicks, 2022). In the next two subsections, we briefly review two examples that highlight tensions between conservation goals and individual insects' welfare.…”

Natural processes influencing pollinator health

“…And how can they be improved? Stout & Dicks [ 78 ] analyse current initiatives and present an analysis of the key elements that are needed for effective societal interventions to support pollinator health. Crucially, they also identify higher-level issues—such as patterns in global trade—that need to be addressed if we are to support pollinator health, and arguably ecosystem health and biodiversity more broadly.…”