DAVE GOULSON is author of the Sunday Times bestseller A Sting
in the Tale, published in 2013 by Jonathan Cape, which has been
translated into 10 languages, including Chinese. His second
book, A Buzz in the Meadow, was published in 2014.environmentbelow Populations of bees
could face extinction due to
habitat loss, pollution and
climate changebottom left Farmer He
Guolin, 53, hand-pollinates
flowers on a pear tree in
Greenpeace proposed three solutions to start working Sichuan Province, China
towards saving bees: Ban the seven most dangerous
pesticides, protect pollinator health by preserving wild
habitat and restore ecological agriculture.The bees are struggling to find food, are stricken with
diseases, and are poisoned with a cocktail of chemicals. It’s of
little wonder that they are in trouble. As a result, in some parts
of the world, bee populations have collapsed.
These findings were raised in a 2016 United Nations
biodiversity report which warned that the populations of bees,
butterflies, and other pollinating species could face extinction
due to these various influences of habitat loss, pollution,
pesticides, and climate change. The report noted that animal
pollination is responsible for between five to eight percent of
global agricultural production. The decline of bees poses very
serious risks to the world’s major crops and food supply.
A growing problem
Hand pollination activity is not a problem or phenomenon
unique to China. Similar stories are emerging elsewhere in the
world: In parts of Brazil, passionfruit farmers now pollinate
by hand, while in Calcutta, India, farmers are now forced to
hand-pollinate their vegetable crops.
It is terribly sad that we are reaching this point; that
we have created a world where other creatures, even those
which do us an enormous service, are not allowed room to
live. Of course, it is not just pollinators that are in decline:
Global wildlife populations are in freefall as we cover more
and more of the planet with our chemical-soaked crops and
polluted cities.
We need crops to feed the world. But if we lose our bees,
we are making that task much harder. We urgently need to find
better ways to grow food – sustainable methods that do not
erode our planet’s resources, and that allow room for other
species to survive. Unless we do so, it may not just be the bees
that eventually fall silent. agSaving the Bees
IMAGE © SHUTTERSTOCK