C. DRIVERS OF CHANGE, RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES, AND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT OPTIONS

14. The abundance, diversity and health of pollinators and the provision of pollination are threatened by direct drivers that generate risks to societies and ecosystems. Threats include land-use change, intensive agricultural management and pesticide use, environmental pollution, invasive alien species, pathogens and climate change. Explicitly linking pollinator declines to individual or combinations of direct drivers is limited by data availability or complexity, yet a wealth of individual case studies worldwide suggests that these direct drivers often affect pollinators negatively.

15. Strategic responses to the risks and opportunities associated with pollinators and pollination range in ambition and timescale from immediate, relatively straightforward, responses that reduce or avoid risks to relatively large-scale and long-term responses that aim to transform agriculture or society’s relationship with nature. There are seven broad strategies, linked to actions, for responding to risks and opportunities (table SPM. 1), including a range of solutions that draw on indigenous and local knowledge. These strategies can be adopted in parallel and would be expected to reduce risks associated with pollinator decline in any region of the world, regardless of the extent of available knowledge about the status of pollinators or the effectiveness of interventions.

16. A number of features of current intensive agricultural practices threaten pollinators and pollination. Moving towards more sustainable agriculture and reversing the simplification of agricultural landscapes offer key strategic responses to risks associated with pollinator decline. Three complementary approaches to maintaining healthy pollinator communities and productive agriculture are: (a) ecological intensification (i.e., managing nature’s

ecological functions to improve agricultural production and

livelihoods while minimizing environmental damage);

(b) strengthening existing diversified farming systems

(including forest gardens, home gardens, agroforestry and

mixed cropping and livestock systems) to foster pollinators

and pollination through practices validated by science or

indigenous and local knowledge (e.g., crop rotation); and

restoring and connecting patches of natural and seminatural

habitats throughout productive agricultural

landscapes. These strategies can concurrently mitigate the

impacts of land-use change, land management intensity,

pesticide use and climate change on pollinators.

17. Practices based on indigenous and local knowledge can be a source of solutions to current challenges, in co-production with science, by supporting an abundance and diversity of pollinators. Practices include diverse farming systems; favouring heterogeneity in landscapes and gardens; kinship relationships that protect many specific pollinators; using seasonal indicators (e.g., flowering) to trigger actions (e.g., planting); distinguishing a wide range of pollinators; and tending to nest trees and floral and other pollinator resources. Knowledge co-production has led to improvements in hive design, new understanding of parasite impacts and the identification of stingless bees new to science.

18. The risk to pollinators from pesticides arises through a combination of toxicity and the level of exposure, which varies geographically with the compounds used and the scale of land management and habitat in the landscape. Pesticides, particularly insecticides, have been demonstrated to have a broad range of lethal and sublethal effects on pollinators under controlled experimental conditions. The few available field studies assessing effects of field-realistic exposure provide conflicting evidence of effects based on species studied and pesticide usage. It is currently unresolved how sublethal effects of pesticide exposure recorded for individual insects affect colonies and populations of managed bees and wild pollinators, especially over the longer term. Recent research focusing on neonicotinoid insecticides shows evidence of lethal and sublethal effects on bees and some evidence of impacts on the pollination they provide. There is evidence from a recent study that shows impacts of neonicotinoids on wild pollinator survival and reproduction at actual field exposure.*Evidence, from this and other studies, of effects on managed honey bee colonies is conflicting.

19. Exposure of pollinators to pesticides can be decreased by reducing the use of pesticides, seeking alternative forms of pest control and adopting a range of specific application practices, including technologies to reduce pesticide drift. Actions to reduce pesticide use include promoting Integrated Pest Management, supported by educating farmers, organic farming and policies to reduce overall use. Risk assessment can be an effective tool for defining pollinator-safe uses of pesticides, which should consider different levels of risk among wild and managed pollinator species according to their biology. Subsequent use regulations (including labelling) are important steps towards avoiding the misuse of specific pesticides. The International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization of the United Nations provides a set of voluntary actions for Government and industry to reduce risks for human health and environment.5 6 *Rundl.f et al. (2015). Seed coating with a neonicotinoid insecticide negatively affects wild bees. Nature 521: 77-80 doi:10. 1038/nature14420.

20. Most agricultural genetically modified organisms (GMOs) carry traits for herbicide tolerance (HT) or insect resistance (IR). Reduced weed populations are likely to accompany most herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops, diminishing food resources for pollinators. The actual consequences for the abundance and diversity of pollinators foraging in herbicidetolerant (HT)-crop fields is unknown. Insect resistant (IR) crops can result in the reduction of insecticide use, which varies regionally according to the prevalence of pests, the emergence of secondary outbreaks of non-target pests or primary pest resistance. If sustained, the reduction in insecticide use could reduce pressure on non-target insects. How insect-resistant (IR) crop use and reduced pesticide use affect pollinator abundance and diversity is unknown. Risk assessments required for the approval of genetically modified organism (GMO) crops in most countries do not adequately address the direct sublethal effects of insect-resistant (IR) crops or the indirect effects of herbicide-tolerant (HT) and insect-resistant (IR) crops, partly because of a lack of data. 21 Bees suffer from a broad range of parasites, including Varroa mites in western and eastern honey bees. Emerging and re-emerging diseases are a significant threat to the health of honey bees, and Use of Pesticides of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)” has been changed to the “International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization of the United Nations” to reflect this revision made in 2014; b) A survey from 2004 and 2005 suggests that a total of 31 out of 51 countries who completed the survey questionnaire, or 61 per cent, were using it, and not 15 per cent. The incorrect figure of 15 percent has therefore been deleted from the text. bumble bees and solitary bees, especially when they are managed commercially. Greater emphasis on hygiene and the control of pathogens would help reduce the spread of disease across the entire community of pollinators, managed and wild. Mass breeding and large-scale transport of managed pollinators can pose risks for the transmission of pathogens and parasites and increase the likelihood of selection for more virulent pathogens, alien species invasions and regional extinctions of native pollinator species. The risk of unintended harm to wild and managed pollinators could be decreased by better regulation of their trade and use.

22. The ranges, abundances and seasonal activities of some wild pollinator species (e.g., bumble bees and butterflies) have changed in response to observed climate change over recent decades. Generally, the impacts of ongoing climate change on pollinators and pollination services to agriculture may not be fully apparent for several decades, owing to a delayed response in ecological systems. Adaptive responses to climate change include increasing crop diversity and regional farm diversity and targeted habitat conservation, management or restoration. The effectiveness of adaptation efforts at securing pollination under climate change is untested.

23. Many actions to support wild and managed pollinators and pollination (described above and in table below could be implemented more effectively with improved governance. For example, broad-scale government policy may be too homogenous and not allow for local variation in practices; administration can be fragmented into different levels; and goals can be contradictory between sectors. Coordinated, collaborative action and knowledge sharing that builds links across sectors (e.g., agriculture and nature conservation), across jurisdictions (e.g., private, Government, not-for-profit), and among levels (e.g., local, national, global) can overcome these challenges and lead to long-term changes that benefit pollinators. Establishing effective governance requires habits, motivations and social norms to change over the long term. However, the possibility that contradictions between policy sectors may remain even after coordination efforts have been undertaken should be acknowledged and should be a point of attention in future studies.

⁠

⁠

*Based on a survey from 2004-2005; Ekstr.m, G., and Ekbom, B. (2010). Can the IOMC Revive the ‘FAO Code’ and take stakeholder initiatives to the developing world? Outlooks on Pest Management 21:125-131.

*Erratum: a) The title “International Code of Conduct on the Distribution

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