FAO supports development of method to monitor global bee decline


Through support from FAO’s Global Action on Pollination Services, a group of biologists have outlined a simple and cost-effective method for enacting a monitoring system, published online Dec. 12th  in the journal Conservation Biology. A monitoring program should be simple, repeatable, inexpensive, and, most importantly, have the ability to quickly detect declines if they are occurring. The study found that counting and identifying bees regularly for five years at about 200 locations would produce data accurate enough to detect two to five percent annual declines in bee populations. The monitoring program is being applied in Brazil, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and South Africa, through the FAO-coordinated project, “Conservation and Management of Pollinators for Sustainable Agriculture, through an Ecosystem Approach.”, with support from the Global Environment Facility and United Nations Environment Programme.

 

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