Limelight, yet wild portant pollinators
sation, larger fields or the use of pesticides and fertiliser. Yet these have contributed to widespread destruction of natural landscapes and loss of natural capital.
Limited resources and land-use pressure require conservation strategies to become more efficient, producing greater outcomes from increasingly limited input.
CO-OPERATIVE CONSERVATION
So-called agri-environment schemes represent the best way to help insect pollinators.
That means diversifying crops, avoiding an ecologically-fragile monoculture and ensuring that the insects can jump between different food sources.
It also means protecting natural habitats and establishing ecological focus areas such as wildflower strips, while limiting the use of pesticides and fertilisers.
As pollinating insects need a surprisingly large area of land to forage, linking up restored habitats on a larger scale provides far more evident and immediate benefits.
However, so far, connections between protected areas have not been a priority, leading to inefficient conservation.
We need a substantial shift in how we think about pollinators. Encouraging land managers to work cooperatively will help create bigger, more impactful areas to support pollinators.
In future, conservation efforts will need to address declines in all pollinators by developing landscapes to support pollinator communities and not just honeybees.
■ Dr Philip Donkersley is a senior research associate in Entomology at Lancaster University.
■ This article first appeared on www.theconversation.com