Halting the loss of pollinators - role of EU agricultural and regional development policies
The European Commission, in cooperation with the European Committee of the Regions, organised an EU Conference “Halting the loss of pollinators: the role of the EU agricultural and regional development policies” on 21 February.
The event reflected on what has been achieved in the 2014-2020 period and discussed how to step up actions in the future.
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A detailed conference report will be available soon.
Context
In past decades, pollinators have dramatically declined in occurrence and diversity across the EU. Numerous pollinator species are already extinct or threatened with extinction. This is a significant cause for concern. Pollinators are vital for the functioning of ecosystems, and human-wellbeing depends on the direct and indirect benefits they provide. In response to this challenge, the European Commission adopted on 1 June 2018 the first-ever EU coordinated action on pollinators – the EU Pollinators Initiative.
The need to maintain and restore habitats for pollinators in rural and urban areas has been long established in the EU policies, in particular, the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020. The EU Pollinators Initiative looks to strengthen the integration of this need by promoting and facilitating the uptake of effective measures and projects under the EU agricultural and regional development policies.
This event focused on:
- Taking stock of the contribution of the EU agricultural and regional development policies to the conservation of pollinators in the programming period 2014-2020;
- How to build on lessons learnt to ensure more effective measures and projects in the 2021-2027 period.
The event was well attended by the national and regional authorities responsible for designing and managing the EU common agricultural policy funds (European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development) and the EU regional development policy funds (European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund) and stakeholders involved in its implementation such as land managers, local authorities, civil society organisations, researchers and businesses.
Download the presentations:
Opening session
- Evelyn Underwood: Pollinators in the EU funding programmes 2014-2020
- Jane Stout: Status of pollinators in Europe and drivers of decline
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- Gilles Lecuir: Zero pesticides and green infrastructure for pollinators
- Julien Ruelle: Wild pollinators in the Brussels-Capital region
- Stella Weweler: More bees for Berlin
Download the posters:
- ABLE - making a vital contribution to the development of an EU pollinator monitoring framework
- BeeNet Bees and biodiversity across environmental monitoring
- Beespoke - benefiting ecosystems through evaluation of food supplies for pollinators to open knowledge
- Biodiversity in open landscapes
- Experimentation of measures to implement the National Action Plan for the sustainable use of PPP in Natura (link coming)
- Expert-assisted citizen science program provides general patterns on bee assemblages on national scale
- Fruit growers for pollinators and pollinators for fruit growers (link coming)
- Life 4 Pollinators Involving people to protect wild bees and pollinators in the the Mediterranean
- Make your city pollinator-friendly!
- Sweden Pollination Week, Pollinator of the Year
- Wild bee diversity in Austrian agriculture landscapes and the rile of agri-environmental measures
Background
The EU Pollinators Initiative responds to the calls for action made by the European Parliament and the Council that confirmed the urgent need, expressed across stakeholder groups, to tackle the dramatic decline of insect pollinators in the EU. The initiative contributes to the objectives of the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020 and the EU progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Initiative defines strategic objectives and actions to be taken by the EU and the Member States to tackle the decline of pollinators domestically and globally. The integrated framework sets priorities to improve knowledge on the causes and consequences; tackling the causes of pollinator decline, and engaging society and promoting collaboration.
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More information: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/species/pollinators