Many species of wild bees, butterflies and other insects
that pollinate plants are shrinking toward extinction, and the world
needs to do something about it before our food supply suffers, a new
United Nations scientific mega-report warns.
The
20,000 or so species of pollinators are key to growing fruits,
vegetables and cash crops. Yet two out of five species of invertebrate
pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, are on the path toward
extinction, said the first-of-its-kind report. Pollinators with
backbones, such as hummingbirds and bats, are only slightly better off,
with 1 in 6 species facing extinction.
“We are in a
period of decline and there are going to be increasing consequences,”
said report lead author Simon Potts, director of the Centre for
Agri-Environmental Research at the University of Reading in England.
The
trouble is the report can’t point to a single villain. Among the
culprits — the way farming has changed so there’s not enough diversity
and wild flowers for pollinators to use as food; pesticide use, habitat
loss to cities; disease, parasites and pathogens; and global warming.
The
report is the result of more than two years of work by scientists
across the globe who got together under several different U.N. agencies
to come up with an assessment of Earth’s biodiversity, starting with the
pollinators.
“The variety and multiplicity of
threats to pollinators and pollination generate risks to people and
livelihoods,” the report stated.
“These risks are largely driven by changes in land cover and agricultural management systems, including pesticide use.”
Dennis
vanEngelsdorp, a University of Maryland bee expert, said, “Everything
falls apart if you take pollinators out of the game. If we want to say
we can feed the world in 2050, pollinators are going to be part of
that.” 
