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Save our bees? EU pollinator initiative lacks teeth to address unsustainable practices!

03 June 2018
by WWF -- last modified 03 June 2018

The European Commission launched on 1 June the EU Pollinators Initiative to address the rapid decline of wild pollinators, such as as bees, bumblebees, butterflies and other insects, which are in rapid decline.


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Unfortunately, while the intention is good, the proposed initiative lacks teeth, failing to include strong concrete measures to address the most important drivers of pollinators decline: intensive agriculture, pesticide use and land use change.

"The Pollinator Initiative aims to put the decline of pollinators higher on the political agenda, and this is laudable. It has, however, no legislative power and is therefore lacking the ability to put an end to the current practices that are damaging the environment,"said Sabien Leemans, Senior Biodiversity Policy Office, WWF European Policy Office.

"It is ironic that also today, the European Commission failed to effectively tackle the drivers of pollinator decline in a much stronger and legally binding tool: its proposal for the future Common Agricultural Policy! It is now up to EU Member States and the EU Parliament to make both the CAP and this initiative work for pollinators."

More than three quarters of the world's food crops are in part dependent on pollination, and in Europe, crop pollination, is estimated to be worth EUR 15 billion annually. Yet, pollinators are dying. The IUCN European Red List of Threatened Species showed that 9% of wild bees and of butterflies, and as many as 24% of Europe's bumblebee species are now threatened with extinction.

The European Policy Office helps shape EU policies that impact on the European and global environment.

WWF - World Wide Fund For Nature