How to Reverse the Biodiversity Crisis of Pollinator Decline
An extraordinary trait of life on Earth is its biodiversity, the living, breathing network of organisms on our planet. There are nearly 9 million types of plants, animals, protists, and fungi on Earth, along with 7 billion people. Biodiversity supports the natural ecosystems that we depend on to maintain our own health and wellbeing. Healthy ecosystems clean our water and air, maintain the soil, regulate the climate, recycle nutrients, and provide us with food and medicine.
But, the world is facing a startling rate of biodiversity loss from human causes, which may have severe consequences for human health. One trend that has particularly flown under the radar is the pattern of widespread decline in wild pollinators — bees, moths and butterflies. Reports mention sweeping declines of formerly abundant insects are raising alarms about increasingly unhealthy ecosystems. Larger animals like birds, fish and frogs rely on insects for food. Wildflowers and crops rely on insects for pollination. Or, as E.O. Wilson once said, without insects “the environment would collapse into chaos” and billions would starve.
In addition, research is showing in greater detail how pollinator-friendly spaces, rich in plants and birds, improve human wellbeing. In one study, in which participants reported psychological wellbeing in riparian (relating to riverbanks) greenspaces in England, found that their sense of wellbeing correlated with their perceptions of the area’s richness of birds, butterflies and plants.
In a related study, participants in a national walking program in England completed pre- and post-walk questionnaires for every group walk they attended over 13 weeks. The degree of restorativeness that they felt after walks was positively related to the perceived intensity of bird, butterfly, plant and tree species. These studies highlight how human health is intricately connected to ecosystem health.
Yet massive pollinator decline is not part of the broader public discourse. A recent study found strikingly low levels of media attention to pollinator population topics relative to coverage of climate change. Of 10 million stories published from 2007 to 2019, just 1.39% referred to climate change/global warming while only 0.02% referred to pollinator populations in all contexts, and just 0.007% referred to pollinator declines.
The main causes of collapse in insect populations are habitat loss and pesticide use. An important step to avoid the “insect apocalypse” as described in Dave Goulson’s Silent Earth, is to cut the use of pesticides as soon as possible. The European Union is aiming to reduce pesticide use by half by 2030, which would regulate plants found in big box stores and supermarkets that are full of insecticides. This move would have real impact. And, evidence suggests that setting aside between 3% and 8% of farmland to foster biodiversity would let pollinators keep farm pests under control, increase farming yields and reduce pesticide costs.
What can we do today as individuals, at home?
- Jump on the “No Mow May” bandwagon, a movement aimed at reducing lawn-mowing in a crucial month for pollinators. (An even better move would be forever replacing your lawn with native flowering plants! Save water! Take your time back that would be spent mowing!) Leave flowering weeds such as dandelions.
- Reject plastic grass in any form. Or, invest in native perennials or wildflower seed mixes to add color, insects, and vibrancy to your home or community garden.
- Grow your own wildflowers from seeds. It’s a fun and engaging way to support insect life at home and to inspire your neighbors to do the same. (There are many outlets for buying native plants and seeds online if your local garden center is still using insecticide-treated plants.)
- Leave a bowl of water with rocks outside for passing bees to rest and have a drink. See more ideas for bee watering stations.
- Make seed bombs with wildflower seeds to toss around the neighborhood or your garden .
- Build a bee hotel and welcome the buzzing guests with gusto.
Taking these small steps to support pollinators serve as creative tactics to connect with nature, support pollinators, and reduce eco-anxiety.
