Advancing Pollinator Conservation: What You Need To Know

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Advancing Pollinator Conservation throughout North America

Status: Completed
Operational Plan: 2022
Project Duration: 24 months
Start date: February 17, 2022

Pollinators support the reproduction of 80% of wild vascular plants and 75% of crop species, and as such are crucial to food security, human well-being, and natural ecosystems. The number of pollinators has declined worldwide due to habitat loss and degradation, intensive agricultural management, pathogens, invasive species, climate change, and excessive use of agrochemicals, including pesticides. This decline requires urgent conservation actions and the engagement of stakeholders in different sectors. Building on past work by the CEC as well as ongoing national efforts on pollinator conservation, the current project will lay the foundations for more robust and standardized data repositories to inform conservation actions across the continent and develop tools and communication materials to raise awareness about pollinators and their importance.

To find out more about this project, here is the complete project description.

Issues

Native bees and other pollinators have declined in North America due to a multitude of drivers.
Long-term, harmonized monitoring data is needed to design and implement effective pollinator conservation strategies.

Aim

We are advancing pollinator conservation throughout North America by sharing best practices, strategies and tools to organize and mobilize native bee inventories and monitoring and developing materials to communicate the importance of native bees and drive conservation action.

Deliverables

Collection of best practices for native bee inventories and monitoring
Geospatial decision-making tools customized to prioritize native bee inventories and monitoring
Communication materials on the benefits of pollinators for communities, food production, and natural ecosystem functioning.

Principal results

The project strengthened pollinator conservation in North America, delivering three main products to support evidence-based conservation: i) a compilation of native bee monitoring and inventory programs, practices and considerations; ii) strategic recommendations and the mapping of priority areas for geospatial tools for native bees inventories and monitoring; and iii) an expansion of the US FWS-managed North American Bee Distribution Tool. It is designed to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators, including native bees, through the “People for Pollinators” social media campaign to encourage action for pollinator conservation.