A new conservation assessment has warned that Europe’s wild bees and butterflies face an escalating extinction crisis, prompting urgent calls for action to reverse the “dire” state of these vital pollinators. Their decline poses a significant threat to natural systems and food production.
The latest European-level assessments for the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List now classify nearly 100 more wild bee species as at risk. This brings the total to 172 out of 1,928 assessed – meaning one in 10 wild bees in Europe are now threatened, a sharp rise from 77 species in 2014. More than 20 per cent of both bumble bee and cellophane bee species are under threat, the IUCN reports.
The situation is also severe for Europe’s butterflies, with 65 out of 442 assessed species, some 15 per cent, facing the threat of extinction, up from 37 species in 2010. More than 40 per cent of those butterflies that are only found in Europe are now threatened or close to being so. One species, the Madeiran large white – which was only found on the Portuguese island of Madeira – is now officially classed as extinct.
Conservation experts said the biggest threat to wild pollinators was habitat loss, as more intensive agriculture and forestry combined with land abandonment in less productive areas meant they were losing their traditional rural landscape homes such as flower-rich meadows. Nitrogen fertilisers and widespread use of pesticides, including herbicides, are also hitting many pollinators. Climate change is bringing prolonged hot weather, droughts and wildfires which are increasingly damaging butterfly habitats in southern Europe and encroaching on bog and tundra habitats in Alpine and more northerly areas.
Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN director general, said: “Beyond their beauty and cultural significance, pollinators like bees and butterflies are lifelines for our health, our food systems and our economies – sustaining the fruits, vegetables and seeds that nourish us. In fact, four out of five crop and wildflower species in the EU rely on insect pollination.” The European Commission’s environment commissioner, Jessika Roswall, added: “The new assessment shows that the conservation status of European wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators is dire. These are the foundation for our food systems, our ecosystems and our societies. Urgent and collective action is needed to tackle this threat.”
