Ten policies for pollinators

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 354; no. 6315; pp. 975 - 976
• Main Authors: Dicks, Lynn V., Viana, Blandina, Bommarco, Riccardo, Brosi, Berry, del Coro Arizmendi, María, Cunningham, Saul A., Galetto, Leonardo, Hill, Rosemary, Lopes, Ariadna V., Pires, Carmen, Taki, Hisatomo, Potts, Simon G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 25-11-2016; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Agriculture; Animals; Assessments; Bees; Biodiversity; Conferences; Ecosystems; Federal Government; Foreign Policy; Governments; Monitoring; Pest Control; Pesticides - standards; Platforms; Policies; Policy; POLICY FORUM; Pollen; Pollination; Risk; Science; Strategy
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aai9226

What governments can do to safeguard pollination services
Earlier this year, the first global thematic assessment from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) evaluated the state of knowledge about pollinators and pollination (
1
,
2
). It confirmed evidence of large-scale wild pollinator declines in northwest Europe and North America and identified data shortfalls and an urgent need for monitoring elsewhere in the world. With high-level political commitments to support pollinators in the United States (
3
), the United Kingdom (
4
), and France (
5
); encouragement from the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD's) scientific advice body (
6
); and the issue on the agenda for next month's Conference of the Parties to the CBD, we see a chance for global-scale policy change. We extend beyond the IPBES report, which we helped to write, and suggest 10 policies that governments should seriously consider to protect pollinators and secure pollination services. Our suggestions are not the only available responses but are those we consider most likely to succeed, because of synergy with international policy objectives and strategies or formulation of international policy creating opportunities for change. We make these suggestions as independent scientists and not on behalf of IPBES.