Stronger international action is needed to protect pollinators and their essential role in food production, biodiversity and rural livelihoods. That was the call from the first Global Pollinator Conference, hosted last week by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which Buglife attended.
The conference provided a clear mandate to work towards establishing a Global Pollinator Platform to strengthen coordinated global action on pollinator conservation and sustainable management. Delegates included representatives of FAO Members, international organisations, scientific experts, Indigenous Peoples and relevant businesses.
Among those speaking were Mr QU Dongyu, Director-General, FAO, Nataša Pirc Musar, President of the Republic of Slovenia, Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and Bertie Gregory, National Geographic Explorer and wildlife filmmaker.
Conference sessions examined how pollinators support food security, livelihoods, biodiversity and climate resilience, and how the main drivers of their decline threaten ecosystems, food production and communities. Turning to practical protection, experts from research, development cooperation and grassroots organisations discussed how science, data and innovation can translate research into action. Another session focused on locally led approaches by Indigenous Peoples, local communities, farmers, women and young people.
A Global Pollinator Platform
Participants explored the potential value of a Global Pollinator Platform, the opportunities it could offer and possible pathways towards establishing it. Discussions covered its prospective vision, objectives and priorities, followed by how it might be implemented, how collaboration could work and a suggested phased timeline.
Buglife pressed attendees to act urgently to address the rapid declines facing pollinators globally. In contributions to discussed, we called for the platform to support the recovery of wild pollinator species, alongside sustaining the ecosystem functions they provide. We also called for the platform to address the needs of non-insect pollinators, nocturnal pollinators, pollinators with a freshwater life-stage and migratory pollinators. These groups risk being overlooked by a focus on managed honeybees and daytime insect pollinators.
Buglife statement on the Global Pollinator Platform:
Buglife welcomes the establishment of a Global Pollinator Platform as an opportunity to strengthen international cooperation for pollinators and the ecosystems and food systems that depend on them.
The need for action is urgent. Pollinators face mounting, interacting pressures, including habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticide and other chemical use, intensive agricultural practices, pollution, invasive species, pests and diseases, and climate change. These pressures threaten pollinator populations, ecosystem resilience, food security and human livelihoods. Reversing pollinator decline is essential, not optional, for halting nature loss and supporting sustainable development.
A Global Pollinator Platform could help sustain momentum, strengthen capacity, improve the generation and exchange of knowledge, and coordinate practical action across countries and regions. It should build on the International Pollinators Initiative and its Plan of Action, while helping turn shared goals into measurable progress.
The Platform’s success will depend on what it enables participants to do, not simply on what they agree to say. We encourage FAO and its partners to give the Platform a clear mandate, inclusive governance, a funded work programme, and transparent milestones for reporting and accountability. Its work should be informed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, farmers, researchers, civil society and other relevant partners. It should complement existing initiatives, strengthen cooperation among them and avoid duplication.
Pollinators are not only vital to functioning ecosystems, food production and human wellbeing, they also have intrinsic value as species and as part of the diversity of nature. The Platform should therefore pursue the recovery of threatened and declining pollinator species as an objective, alongside restoring the ecological functions they support.
Priority should be given to tackling the drivers of wild pollinator decline and securing the recovery of threatened and declining pollinator species. This should include protecting, restoring and reconnecting invertebrate-rich habitats across agricultural landscapes, settlements and freshwater systems; reducing harmful pesticide use and other pollution; supporting sustainable, pollinator-friendly practices; and developing targeted species recovery measures. The Platform should also promote stronger safeguards for pollinator species and their habitats, and investment in research, ecological monitoring, capacity-building and public engagement. Cooperation should respond to local needs and help channel resources to the places and communities that need them most.
Buglife is ready to support this effort. We welcome the Platform’s development and urge participants to match commitments with the resources, coordination and follow-through needed for rapid action at scale. The challenge is immense; the response must be equal to it.
David Smith, Buglife’s Advocacy and Social Change Manager says:
A Global Pollinator Platform must support the recovery of threatened and declining wild pollinators as well as restore the vital functions they provide. We were pleased to bring Buglife’s message to the global stage and highlight the remarkable diversity of pollinators and the threats they face.
Now is the time to move beyond words and commitments. Governments and stakeholders must work together to turn them into urgent, coordinated action worldwide.
Main image credit: FAO GPC © David Smith