[Pollinator] Big agriculture has the chance to help or hinder our most important pollinators, research argues

[Matthew Shepherd]

Much conservation work is in reaction to change or impacts, mitigation
after the event. A new paper has been published in the journal PeerJ today
that is hoping to change the situation for pollinators by looking ahead to
identify major threats and opportunities for proactive prevention. As the
lead author, Professor Mark Brown from Royal Holloway University of London,
noted, “We are increasingly adopting practices that damage these species.
Then, we rather absurdly look to mitigate their loss, rather than prevent
it in the first place.”



The article, “A horizon scan of future threats and opportunities for
pollinators and pollination,” is freely available at
https://peerj.com/articles/2249/.



The press release from Royal Holloway University is below.



Matthew





*********************



*Big agriculture has the chance to help or hinder our most important
pollinators, research argues*



•          New research identifies future threats to, and opportunities for
insects, birds, mammals, and reptiles that pollinate wild flowers and crops

•          35% of global crop production, and 85% of wild flowering plants
rely on hard-working pollinators to thrive

•          Researchers calling for proactive prevention not reactive
mitigation, and continuation of positive steps to reduce chemical use
across landscapes



New research published today in PeerJ has identified the most serious
future threats to, but also opportunities for pollinating species, which
provide essential agricultural and ecological services across the globe.



>From the expansion of corporate agriculture, new classes of insecticides
and emerging viruses, pollinators are facing changing and increasingly
challenging risks. In response, researchers are calling for global policies
of proactive prevention, rather than reactive mitigation to ensure the
future of these vital species.



The study was conducted by an international group of scientists, government
researchers, and NGOs led by Professor Mark Brown from Royal Holloway
University of London, supported by the EU-funded network SuperB.



PREVENTION, NOT PANIC



They used a method of horizon scanning to identify future threats that
require preventative action, and opportunities to be taken advantage of, in
order to protect the insects, birds, mammals, and reptiles that pollinate
wild flowers and crops.

“35% of global crop production, and 85% of wild flowering plants rely on
hard-working pollinators to thrive. We are increasingly adopting practices
that damage these species. Then, we rather absurdly look to mitigate their
loss, rather than prevent it in the first place,” explained Professor
Brown.



“This is an expensive and back-to-front solution for a problem that has
very real consequences for our well-being,” Brown continued, “Most research
focuses on the battles already being fought, not on the war to come.”



PRIORITY POLLINATOR CHALLENGES



Out of a long-list of sixty risks to, and opportunities for pollinators the
team identified 6 high priority issues, including:

1)     Corporate control of agriculture at the global scale

2)     Sulfoximine, a novel systemic class of insecticides

3)     New emerging viruses

4)     Increased diversity of managed pollinator species

5)     Effects of extreme weather under climate change

6)     Reductions in chemical use in non-agricultural settings



The research highlights consolidation of the agri-food industries as a
major potential threat to pollinators, with a small numbers of companies
now having unprecedented control of land.



The rise in transnational land deals for crop production, for example the
use of large areas of Brazil for soybean export to China, now occupies over
40 million hectares.



“The homogenization of agriculture effectively means that corporations are
applying blanket production systems to landscapes that are vastly
different, significantly reducing the diversity and number of native
pollinators,” explained Sarina Jepsen, Director of Endangered Species and
Aquatic Programs, The Xerces Society and Deputy Chair, IUCN Bumblebee
Specialist Group.



POSITIVES ON THE HORIZON



Professor Brown continued, “However, it is not all doom and gloom. For
example, such global domination provides an opportunity to influence
land-management to make it favourable for pollinators at huge scales, but
this would require the agri-food industry to work closely together with
NGOs and researchers.”



Speaking about the influence of new insecticides, co-author, Lynn Dicks
from the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge said,
"Identifying environmental issues in advance, before they become large
scale, allows society to plan responses and reduce environmental risks
before they are upon us. It is a routine part of strategic planning in
financial management, and it should also be routine in environmental
planning and policymaking. Many of the pollinator issues we identified on
the horizon can be responded to right now, for example by working with
corporations already controlling large areas of agricultural land to
develop pollinator management strategies, or by planning research on the
sub-lethal effects of sulfoxaflor before it is widely used."



However the study also found more explicitly positive opportunities for
pollinators. For example, the current and future reduction of chemical use
in non-agricultural land, gardens and parks, could be fruitful for
pollinating populations.



“We must continue to encourage these practices across industry, government,
and the public, so that we give our important pollinating species the
support they need to do their vital work,” concluded Professor Brown.









­----------



Matthew Shepherd

Communications Director



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