Sumak Kawsay is a Peruvian agroecological initiative that restores mountain ecosystems and protects native pollinators through meliponiculture, reforestation with native trees and pesticide reduction. The project supports 14 farmers, empowers women via agrotourism, and reinvests honey and panela income into habitat restoration.
Pollination and other regulating services support crop production and are enhanced in agroforestry systems, as seen in cocoa in Ghana and coffee in Ethiopia. The study attempts an economic valuation but still lacks a solid method to accurately estimate the value of these ecosystem services.
Mulino Bianco’s “Carta del Mulino”, developed with WWF and Italian universities, redesigns soft-wheat farming through ten sustainability rules to restore biodiversity, ban key chemicals, and introduce 3% flower strips for pollinators. The programme now involves 2.400 farms and 50.000 ha, with measurable gains in natural capital and biodiversity validated by Tuscia and Bologna Universities.
A global review of 134 pollination decision-support tools shows knowledge is abundant but fragmented. Regions most dependent on animal-pollinated crops lack tailored tools, highlighting the need for a unified global platform under the International Pollinators Initiative.
A regional review of 82 food plants used by Indigenous Peoples shows strong reliance on wild native bees and other specialized pollinators. As habitats decline, plant–pollinator networks-and food security for IPLC-face rising vulnerability across Latin America.
A Burkina Faso study shows protected areas provide the strongest year-round melliferous resources for Apis mellifera, while farmlands risk forage homogenisation. Conserving woody flora and integrating agroforestry are key to stabilising forage calendars and hive productivity.
A study on the endangered Bombus affinis shows that native-plant yards in cities can create connected micro-habitats that support wild pollinators. When households plant intentionally, urban areas function as ecological corridors for pollinator recovery.
Across Africa, baobab trees rely on different nocturnal pollinators, bats in West Africa and moths in the South. Their flowers have co-evolved accordingly, showing why pollination ecology must guide restoration and conservation strategies.
A modelling study finds that a collapse of wild pollinators in Europe by 2030 could shrink crop yields by ~8%, cost global agri-food welfare €34 billion, and push Europe to become a net importer of nutrient-rich foods.
An EEA briefing warns that Europe’s wild pollinators are rapidly declining. It calls for robust pollination indicators, harmonised monitoring, reduced pesticide pressure and habitat restoration to guide effective EU policy and halt biodiversity loss.
Ancient grasslands with long habitat continuity host far richer bee and hoverfly communities than newly created sites. The study shows that restoring pollination services requires connecting new patches to old and continuous habitats.
A three-year garden study in Oregon shows pollinators consistently prefer wild-type native plants over cultivars. Native species supported higher pollinator richness and specialist bees, highlighting the importance of minimally modified plants for sustaining pollinator communities.
In Zimbabwe, the Farming with Alternative Pollinators approach integrates marketable habitat plants along field edges. Results show higher wild pollinator diversity and farmer incomes, proving agroecological design can boost both biodiversity and livelihoods.
The APES framework, developed under the Horizon 2020 RADIANT project, links agroecological practices to 22 ecosystem services. Tested on dairy farms in Northern Italy, it shows how interacting practices generate tangible ecosystem benefits and guide sustainable transitions.
A global meta-analysis in Science identifies critical habitat thresholds for wild pollinators, 6 % for hoverflies, 16 % for solitary bees, 18 % for bumble bees, and 37 % for butterflies, showing that conserving connected, high-quality habitats is key to sustaining pollination.
In central Lao PDR, Apis cerana thrives in agroecological systems but declines under intensive farming. The study shows that floral diversity and abundance, more than area alone, drive bee presence, highlighting agroecology as key to sustaining crop pollination.
In Mongolia, scientist Solongo Ganbold turned bee venom research into a start-up, Magic Bee Foods. Supported by FAO, her venture develops balms and ointments, creates rural jobs for women, and shows how science, innovation, and empowerment can reshape agrifood systems.
When honey bees sip droplets from mushrooms, it’s more than a forest curiosity. Research shows fungal extracts can slash bee virus loads thousands-fold, revealing biodiversity as hidden infrastructure vital to pollinator health and resilient food systems.
