UKZN Scientist Helps Spotlight Emerging Global Threats to Bees

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Coinciding with World Bee Day, a global science-led campaign called Bee:wild released a landmark report identifying the top 12 key threats accelerating the global decline of pollinators.

These include war and conflict, antibiotic pollution, and other emerging risks. The report also outlines actions humanity can take to reverse the decline.

UKZN’s Associate Professor Michael Lattorff is one of 10 global experts who contributed to the report, applying his expertise in bee health, pollination ecology, and the genetics of social insects to a campaign that aims to save pollinators.

The expert review identified 44 emerging threats and 36 opportunities for pollinators, with a focus on the 12 most pressing threats expected to accelerate pollinator loss over the next five to 15 years. It also highlights 12 corresponding opportunities to address these threats, at both regional and global levels.

Nearly 90% of flowering plants and more than 75% of the world’s staple crops rely on pollinators - bees, butterflies, some birds and bats - making them crucial to biodiversity and food security. However, habitat loss, pesticides, parasites and disease, climate change and invasive species have led to severe decline, including the extinction of some bee species.

The report, titled “Emerging Threats and Opportunities for Conservation of Global Pollinators”, outlines a host of new threats adding to the pressure on pollinators: war and conflict, microplastic pollution, artificial light at night, air pollution, antibiotic contamination, new pesticide cocktails, and increasingly frequent wildfires.

Notable examples include the war in Ukraine, which has led to fewer crop types being planted - reducing food diversity for pollinators - and historic wildfires destroying already fragmented habitats. Microplastics have been found in beehives across Europe. Increased levels of artificial light at night reduce flower visits by nocturnal pollinators by up to 62% and inhibit the vital role of moths and other night insects.

Antibiotic pollution is also impacting beehives and honey, and altering pollinator behaviour. New pesticide combinations are weakening pollinators, particularly in less-regulated developing countries, while air pollution is harming their survival, growth and reproduction.

Some emerging threats are even the unintended consequences of climate actions, such as the types of trees being planted for carbon capture and the environmental disruption of mining for car battery materials.

Identifying these new threats as well as strategies to mitigate them is key to preventing major declines, according to lead author and chair of Bee:wild’s Scientific Advisory Board, Professor Simon Potts of the University of Reading. Evidence-based and early government, scientific, farming, conservation, business, and civil society responses could reduce harm and protect the pollinators that are essential to human life.

The top conservation actions and opportunities that could protect pollinators include strengthening laws limiting antibiotic pollution, reducing air pollution by transitioning to electric vehicles, breeding crops with enhanced pollen and nectar, creating flower-rich habitats within solar parks, and developing RNA-based treatments that target pests without harming beneficial insects.

Creating urban gardens, rewilding, and protecting natural habitats present more solutions, and some researchers suggest using artificial intelligence to track pollinators.

Because these threats are cumulative and growing, they must be tackled together. Focused, collaborative action is needed at all levels - from individuals in their gardens to communities managing public spaces and farms.

Ms Eva Kruse, Executive Director of Bee:wild, said: ‘The purpose of the Bee:wild campaign is to fuel awareness, urgency and give everyone agency.’

She added, ‘It’s getting harder for our pollinators, but we can all play a part in protecting them and building a sustainable future for all living things.’

Words: Christine Cuénod

Photograph: Michael Lattorff