A. VALUES OF POLLINATORS & POLLINATION

1. Animal pollination plays a vital role as a regulating ecosystem service in nature. Globally, nearly 90 per cent of wild flowering plant species depend, at least in part, on the transfer of pollen by animals. These plants are critical for the continued functioning of ecosystems as they provide food, form habitats and provide other resources for a wide range of other species.

2. More than three quarters of the leading types of global food crops rely to some extent on animal pollination for yield and/or quality. Pollinator dependent crops contribute to 35 per cent of global crop production volume.

3. Given that pollinator-dependent crops rely on animal pollination to varying degrees, it is estimated that 5-8 per cent of current global crop production, with an annual market value of $235 billion-$577 billion (in 2015, United States dollars* worldwide, is directly attributable to animal pollination.

4. The importance of animal pollination varies substantially among crops, and therefore among regional crop economies. Many of the world’s most important cash crops benefit from animal pollination in terms of yield and/or quality and are leading export products in developing countries (e.g., coffee and cocoa) and developed countries (e.g., almonds), providing employment and income for millions of people.

5 Pollinator-dependent food products are important contributors to healthy human diets and nutrition. Pollinator-dependent species encompass many fruit, vegetable, seed, nut and oil crops, which supply major proportions of micronutrients, vitamins and minerals in the human diet.

6. The vast majority of pollinator species are wild, including more than 20,000 species of bees, some species of flies, butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, thrips, birds, bats and other vertebrates. A few species of bees are widely managed, including the western honey bee (Apis mellifera)*, the eastern honey bee (Apis cerana), some bumble bees, some stingless bees and a few solitary bees. Beekeeping provides an important source of income for many rural livelihoods. The western honey bee is the most widespread managed pollinator in the world, and globally there are about 81 million hives producing an estimated 1.6 million tonnes of honey annually.

7. Both wild and managed pollinators have globally significant roles in crop pollination, although their relative contributions differ according to crop and location. Crop yield and/or quality depend on both the abundance and diversity of pollinators. A diverse community of pollinators generally provides more effective and stable crop pollination than any single species. Pollinator diversity contributes to crop pollination even when managed species (e.g., honey bees) are present in high abundance. The contribution of wild pollinators to crop production is undervalued.

8. Pollinators are a source of multiple benefits to people, beyond food provisioning, contributing directly to medicines, biofuels (e.g. canola*and palm oil), fibres (e.g., cotton and linen) construction materials (timbers), musical instruments, arts and crafts, recreational activities and as sources ofinspiration for art, music, literature, religion, traditions, technology and education. Pollinators serve as important spiritual symbols in many cultures. Sacred passages about bees in all the worlds’ major religions highlight their significance to human societies over millennia.

9. A good quality of life for many people relies on ongoing roles of pollinators in globally significant heritage, as symbols of identity, as aesthetically significant landscapes and animals, in social relations, for education and recreation and in governance interactions. Pollinators and pollination are critical to the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage; the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage; and the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems Initiative.

*Value adjusted to 2015 United States dollars taking into account inflation only. *Also called the European honey bee, native to Africa, Europe and Western Asia, but spread around the globe by beekeepers and queen breeders. *Also called oilseed rape.

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