Bee Active!

Three out of four food crops depend at least partly on pollinators.

Bees provide ecosystem services for crop pollination estimated at €153 billion/year worldwide and €22 billion/year in Europe.

There are more than 20,000 species of bees worldwide and about 2000 species of bees in Europe.

Bees are considered the most important group of pollinators because they visit 90% of the 107 most important global crop types.

Of the more than 20 000 bee species worldwide, only 12 bee species managed by farmers are commonly used for crop pollination, and of these, the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the most common.

Threats contributing to pollinator decline include: land-use change, intensive agricultural management and use of pesticides, especially neonicotinoids, environmental pollution, invasive species, disease and climate change.

9.2% of bee species are considered threatened at European level.

Some EU countries have already adopted national policies protecting pollinators (e.g. Norway, France, Germany, the Netherlands, etc.).

Most EU countries supported the European Commission's proposal to completely ban the use of three neonicotinoids – pesticides that can kill bees – and the regulation came into force in 2018. Romania did not support this proposal. On the contrary, it has continued to periodically request exceptions from EU legislation for treating seeds with neonicotinoids, from 2014 to the present. The EU Commission recently issued a warning to Romania in this regard.

Although we would be tempted to think that bees do best in the wild, their density and diversity can be even higher on farms than in adjacent wild areas. Well-managed farms can provide good habitats for bees, which in turn provide pollination services for agricultural production.

Source: „The importance of bees and other pollinators for food and agriculture”, FAO, 2018

Urban beekeeping is very beneficial for bees and the quality of honey produced in cities is very high.The popularity of beekeeping in cities is increasing by 200% every year. And the concept is not new: in Slovenia – the town of Idrija has had a municipal apiary for almost 100 years.

City parks, small gardens around blocks and flower beds provide bees with food all year round. Urban beekeeping is good for the environment because bees effectively take care of natural ecosystems.

Source: „The importance of bees and other pollinators for food and agriculture”, FAO, 2018

Nearly three quarters of the world's crop species depend, at least in part, on bees and other pollinators. Bees and other pollinators can be said to play a key role in achieving Zero Hunger, one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals

Pollinators play a key role in helping to sustainably feed a growing world population [SDG 2] and help maintain biodiversity and a vibrant ecosystem [SDG 15]. They help build resilient livelihoods and create new jobs, especially for poor smallholder farmers, by meeting the growing demand for healthy and nutritious food and non-food products [SDGs 1 and 9].

Source: „The importance of bees and other pollinators for food and agriculture”, FAO, 2018

WWF works to protect and restore wild ecosystems, both in Romania and worldwide. Every time we consider the welfare of all species in the ecosystem: for example, with the ecological reconstruction of the Balta Geraiului wetland, we encouraged local people to grow mint for honey, thus helping bees.

We supported the banning of the use of neonicotinoids in Romania and the adoption of the Guide for the evaluation of the risks of pesticide use on pollinators (Bee Guide).

Through Bee Active, we want to further improve legislation and create an informal alliance to protect pollinators.

1. Grow a bee-friendly garden: with plants that flower at different times of the year, untreated with pesticides, and as little grass as possible – the ‘bee desert'.
2. If you see a tired bee on the ground, give it a little sugar water (about 2 teaspoons of sugar to 1 teaspoon of water) and leave it alone.
3. Bee informed. Keep up to date with the latest news about bees and other pollinators by subscribing to the WWF newsletter.