World Bee Day is celebrated on May 20, a date proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2017 and which aims to raise awareness about the essential role that bees and other pollinators play in maintaining the health of people and the planet, as well as about the challenges and threats they face today. This year, under the slogan “Commitment to bees: for pollinator-friendly agricultural production“, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) highlights the importance of adopting pollinator-friendly agricultural production practices to protect these species, while promoting resilience. the sustainability and efficiency of agri-food systems.

According to FAO data, bees and other pollinators contribute to 35% of global agricultural production, pollinating 87 of the world’s 115 major food crops. In addition, about 75% of the world’s crops that produce fruits and seeds for human use depend, at least in part, on these insects, which not only make possible the abundance of these products but also more variety and quality, thus contributing to food security and nutrition.

On the other hand, pollination is a fundamental process for the preservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystem vitality. Through their work, pollinators drive the reproduction of a wide variety of cultivated and wild plants, many of which are necessary for human well-being and livelihoods. They also contribute to maintaining forest ecosystems, since pollination helps to regenerate trees and, consequently, to conserve forest biodiversity.

However, at present, bees, pollinators and many other insects are declining in terms of abundance and diversity. Land-use changes, intensive agricultural practices, widespread pesticide use, the presence of invasive alien species, environmental pollution and the effects of climate change pose serious threats to the survival of these species because they reduce their access to food and nesting sites, expose them to harmful chemicals and weaken their immune systems. Consequently, according to UN data, almost 35 % of invertebrate pollinators (in particular bees and butterflies), and about 17 % of vertebrate pollinators, such as bats, are globally threatened with extinction.

In our country we have a wide biodiversity of pollinators. Spain is home to 1,122 different varieties of bees alone, of which more than 100 can only be seen in our territory. To protect these insects, other pollinators and their habitats, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge approved the 2020
National Strategy for the Conservation of Pollinators
as part of the European Union Pollinator Initiative. The proposed measures are aimed at different strategies, which can be divided into 6 groups: conserve threatened pollinator species and their habitats; promoting pollinator-friendly habitats ; improve the management of these species and reduce risks from pests, pathogens and invasive species; reduce the risk derived from the use of phytosanitary products for pollinators; to support research to improve knowledge about the conservation status of species and the causes of their decline; and to guarantee access to information and disseminate the importance of pollinators.

In this context, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge is promoting several projects within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, which include actions aimed at improving the status of pollinators. These initiatives were selected under the call for
call for the promotion of the bioeconomy and the ecological transition for 2021.
for 2021:

BIOVALOR
seeks to promote the circular bioeconomy in the face of the demographic challenge by obtaining high-value bioproducts from native forest species and aromatic and medicinal plants grown on marginal, low-productivity agricultural land.

We are Water II
aims to generate a micro-entrepreneurial fabric that fosters a transformative circular bioeconomy in an unpopulated high and medium mountain territory. To this end, it will rely on traditional knowledge and other endogenous resources with scientific and technical analysis of the bioactive potential of natural resources in areas such as beekeeping, livestock and exploitation of aromatic and medicinal plants.

Biotramuntana
aims to promote the use and conservation of natural resources and biodiversity in the mountain farms and municipalities of the northern Serra de Tramuntana (Mallorca), developing tools, infrastructures and interrelationships that generate a transforming environmental and social impact.

Pastoralist Nature
highlights pastoralism as a viable and necessary activity for economic recovery, biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation in the current context of demographic challenge.