[Pollinator] Challenging the commodification of pollination

[Evan Abramson]

Thanks for sharing Kit. I am happy to see you're also getting the word out
on this (underrepresented) perspective.

I don't want to take any credit for the article that I posted, as I was not
involved with the writing or research of it.

As a designer and planner, my focus has been to recommend specific plants
for specific landscape typologies in particular geographic regions, so as
to best support those pollinator species which are of the highest
conservation priority. Not based on their ecosystem services, but rather on
their contributions to functional diversity.

For those interested in such an approach to community-based conservation,
we recently completed a Pollinator Action Plan for Lincoln, Massachusetts
which directly embodies this approach to pollination systems design. The
pdf can be downloaded directly at:
https://lincolnconservation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/LandscapeInteractions_LincolnPollinatorActionPlan_web_final.pdf

On page 14 of the plan, the chapter Diversity is Resilience includes the
following discussion:

*Diversity is strongly linked to the resilience of natural communities
(Helzer 2009). A diverse combination of plant and animal species in a
community increases the likelihood that the loss of one species can be
somewhat compensated by other species that might play a similar role in the
ecosystem...Ecological resilience may be the most important attribute for
any natural system, especially in the face of rapid climate change,
continuing loss and degradation of habitat, encroaching invasive species
and other threats (Helzer 2017).*

Best,
Evan

On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 6:30 AM Kit Prendergast <kitprendergast21 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear Evan,
> I completely concur with the sentiment in your article and so glad more
> researchers are moving away from the capitalist anthropocentric mentality.
> I published a similar critique last year (I have attached the pdf with this
> email as I could not afford open access)
>
> Prendergast, K.S. (2020), Beyond ecosystem services as justification for
> biodiversity conservation. Austral Ecology, 45: 141-143.
> https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12882
>
> Thank you for sharing your article with us.
>
> On Thu, 25 Mar 2021 at 23:44, Evan Abramson <
> evan at landscapeinteractions.com> wrote:
>
>> One million species are threatened with extinction globally, including
>> more than half of the native bee species in North America. Our central
>> argument is that the commodification of pollination has detrimental effects
>> on people, pollinators, and ecosystems, and that a diverse economies
>> framework is one conceptual model that can help shift our perspective.
>> Within the 'save the bees' narrative, a capitalocentric, unidimensional
>> image of pollination persists, driven by particular forms of market power
>> and domination. Well-intentioned individuals and groups may be constrained
>> by industry-dominated messaging that limits their understanding of
>> appropriate interventions.
>>
>> Marshman J. & Knezevic I., (2021) “What's in a name? Challenging the
>> commodification of pollination through the diverse economies of 'Bee
>> Cities'”, *Journal of Political Ecology* 28(1). p.124-145. doi:
>> https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.2307
>>
>> --
>>
>> Evan Abramson
>>
>> *Principal*
>> L a n d s c a p e | n t e r a c t i o n s
>> Designing Biodiversity through Pollination Science
>> 646-244-8380
>> landscapeinteractions.com
>> _______________________________________________
>> Pollinator mailing list
>> Pollinator at lists.sonic.net
>> https://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/pollinator
>>
>
>
> --
> Kit Prendergast
> Native bee scientist, conservation biologist and zoologist
> PhD researcher (Curtin University) and Forrest Scholar
> ORCiD: *https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1164-6099
> <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1164-6099>*
>


-- 

Evan Abramson

*Principal*
L a n d s c a p e | n t e r a c t i o n s
Designing Biodiversity through Pollination Science
646-244-8380
landscapeinteractions.com
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