[Pollinator] Walmart Commits to Bee Better Certified and Other Measures for Pollinators

[Matthew Shepherd]

Hi everyone,



We’re pleased to share this week’s announcement that the world’s largest
retailer—Walmart—has publicly committed to a sweeping range of pollinator
conserving actions:

*Restoring Pollinator Habitats is Key to Feeding the Future*

https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2021/04/13/restoring-pollinator-habitats-is-key-to-feeding-the-future



Walmart has committed to help address the pollinator crisis by asking its
fresh produce suppliers around the world who supply its U.S. stores to
phase out use of highly toxic and long-lived insecticides. They are also
asking all fresh produce suppliers to move toward more sustainable
practices.  Specifically, Walmart called on all their fruit and vegetable
suppliers to:

   - Restore 3% of their production land to pollinator habitat.
   - Begin phasing out nitroguanidine neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos
   insecticides, two types of insecticides linked to global pollinator
   declines.



To help accelerate these actions, by 2025, all fresh produce suppliers to
Walmart must be certified in one of ten different third party-verified
sustainable farming standards, a list that includes Bee Better Certified
<https://beebettercertified.org/>, USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance, and
several others.

Walmart has also committed to:

   - Keep invasive plant species out of their garden department, and
   - Advance labeling of nursery plants grown without systemic insecticides.



The company is re-imagining their forthcoming new home office as a native
plant-filled campus within a pollinator-friendly green infrastructure. This
is backed by ongoing commitments to restore pollinator habitat around many
of their stores and distribution centers.



These actions represent a major milestone with the potential to impact
millions of acres of fruit and vegetable production worldwide. All in all,
a promising announcement that we hope is wildly successful, pun intended.



To learn more about Bee Better Certified, visit:
https://beebettercertified.org





----------

Matthew Shepherd

Director of Communications & Outreach

*he/him/his*



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