Pollinators
Pollination is an essential service that depends to a large extent on symbiosis between species, the pollinated and the pollinator. In many cases, it is the result of intricate relationships between plants and animals, and the reduction or loss of either will affect the survival of both parties. Not all plants depend on animals for pollination, many are wind pollinated, like grasses which form the predominant ground-cover of many ecosystems. Similarly, in agriculture most staple foods are wind pollinated. However, at least one-third of the world's agricultural crops (e.g. many fruits and vegetables) depends upon pollination provided by insects and other animals.
The assumption that pollination is a "free ecological service" provided by nature is erroneous. Effective pollination requires resources such as refuges of pristine natural vegetation and suitable habitat for pollinators. Where these are reduced or lost, pollinators are becoming limited and adaptive management practices are required to sustain livelihoods.
In fact, throughout the world, agricultural production and agro-ecosystem diversity are threatened by declining populations of pollinators, for example in 1994 in California, almond producers were forced to import honey bees from other states within the USA to ensure that their crop was pollinated. The major contributors to this are considered to be habitat fragmentation, agricultural and industrial chemicals, parasites and diseases, and the introduction of alien species.
FAO and pollinators
The International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators was established by the 5th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity as a cross cutting initiative within its work on agriculture. FAO was invited by the Executive Secretary to "facilitate and co-ordinate the initiative in co-operation with other relevant organisations who were invited to support actions in Parties and countries subject to pollinator decline." (Convention on Biological Diversity)
The FAO Global Action on Pollination Services for Sustainable Agriculture provides guidance to member countries and relevant tools to use and conserve pollination services that sustain agroecosystem functions.
Queries can be addressed to: GlobalAction-Pollination@fao.org
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