The European Commission recently announced the creation of a standardized method for tracking pollinators across all member countries of the European Union.
This initiative aims to comply with the Nature Restoration Regulation and reverse, by the year 2030, the worrying decline of these essential insects for biodiversity and food security.
Objectives of the new system
The main purpose is to safeguard European biodiversity and ensure food security, through the restoration of degraded nature and the efficient monitoring of pollinator populations.
Member States will have one year to adapt to the new system, which is characterized by being standardized, robust, and scientifically based, ensuring that the data collected each year is comparable and reliable across the Union.
“To safeguard biodiversity, food security, and the resilience of the natural environment, it is imperative to restore Europe’s degraded nature,” the Commission stated in an official communiqué.
The importance of pollinators
Pollinators are responsible for the pollination of 80% of food crops and wild flowering plants. Without them, the production of foods such as fruits, vegetables, and seeds would be severely affected.
Currently, the situation is critical:
- One in three species of bees, butterflies, and hoverflies is disappearing.
- One in ten species of bees and butterflies is at risk of extinction.
The disappearance of these agents threatens food diversity and global nutritional security, as their work is vital for plant reproduction and ecosystem balance.
Causes of the decline
The indiscriminate use of agrochemicals, habitat loss, climate change, and ecosystem fragmentation are the main causes of the decline in pollinators.
These environmental pressures especially affect insects, which make up the majority of pollinators, although there are also vertebrate species that fulfill this function.
Benefits of pollinators
Plant reproduction
They facilitate the sexual reproduction of most flowering plants, ensuring genetic diversity and species survival.
Food production
They are responsible for key foods in the human diet, such as blueberries, apples, almonds, cucumbers, and coffee.
Food security
By ensuring food production, they directly contribute to global nutrition and food security.
Ecosystem health
They maintain the plant biodiversity that supports other species, ensuring ecological balance.
Economic value
Animal pollination contributes billions of dollars to the global agricultural economy, increasing the quantity and quality of crops.
Types of pollinators and the importance of protecting them
- Insects: bees, bumblebees, butterflies, wasps, flies, and beetles.
- Vertebrates: bats, hummingbirds, and small birds in various ecosystems.
The new monitoring method by the European Commission represents a decisive advance in the protection of pollinators, whose disappearance threatens both biodiversity and food security.
The initiative aims to generate comparable and reliable data across the Union, allowing for more effective policies tailored to local realities. In a context where one in three species is disappearing, coordinated and scientific action is essential to ensure a sustainable future.
