The total of native bee varieties in Europe facing disappearance has increased twofold during the previous ten-year period, and the number of threatened butterfly has almost doubled.
This critical situation for essential pollinating insects was unveiled by research studies for the red list of threatened species, which found that at least one hundred seventy-two bee types out of 1,928 were threatened with extinction in the European continent.
The number of butterfly species threatened with extinction in European nations has grown from thirty-seven to sixty-five since the previous assessment, carried out a decade and a half ago. One type, the large white of Madeira (Pieris wollastoni) has now been classified as extinct.
In addition to their visual charm and cultural value, pollinating insects like bees and butterfly species are lifelines for our physical condition, our food systems and our financial structures – maintaining the fruits, veggies and seeds that nourish us,” commented the IUCN director general. “The most recent assessments of the European red list reveal major obstacles, with dangers increasing for butterflies and essential non-managed bee species.”
The factors of the swift recent drops are the ongoing damage or destruction of natural habitats caused by intensive agriculture and abandoned land, wetland drainage, excessive grazing by animals, and the application of fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid chemicals. The division of habitat friendly to pollinators greatly increases the risk of disappearances in specific areas.
Climate change is also shown to be a primary risk: Over half of all threatened butterfly species in Europe are endangered by the climate change crisis – approximately twice as many as a decade ago.
Nearly nine out of ten of blooming plants in Europe rely on pollination by animals, according to the lead coordinator of the wild bee assessment. “Sadly, non-managed bee populations are in severe drop and cannot readily be substituted by domesticated hives,” he said. “If non-managed bees die out, many wild plants might be threatened too – of which bloom-filled grasslands and lovely orchid types are just a couple of instances.”
Fifteen species of bumblebees, which have an essential part in aiding the pollination of peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bees, known for pollinating trees such as willows along with red maples, are now classified as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee unique to the European continent and the sole species of this biological genus in European nations, is now classified as critically at risk – the research category nearest to extinction in the wild.
Butterfly types that are exclusively located on high-altitude areas are highly susceptible to global heating as they have to climb upward as their habitats become more heated but eventually run out of space. In Spain’s southern region, the Nevada grayling and the Andalusian anomalous blue are among above 40 percent of European endemics (only found in Europe) facing extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, types such as the severely threatened grayling of Karpathos are imperilled by extreme drought and wildfires.
At the same time, in the Far North, climate change is leading to the forest boundary to advance northwards by dozens of meters each year, with underbrush encroaching on wetlands and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean reindeer can not anymore cross the ice sheets to graze northern grasslands and prevent them from overgrowing. Eight types of butterflies are threatened with extinction in this area, including the fritillary of Freyja and the Arctic ringlet.
“The greatest living space for all these pollinating species is grassland rich in flowers and that is vanishing rapidly in the European continent because of all these reasons,” stated Martin Warren. “The positive thing is that so many citizens are concerned now and there’s a lot more awareness. Under the EU’s nature restoration regulation, all member countries have to turn around the drop in pollinating insects by the year 2030, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are property owners who are interested. We hope they can receive the incentives that will support them on their way.”
As stated by the coordinator, there is “readily achievable actions” in terms of action for pollinating species which won’t reduce agricultural output – and could improve it – such as agricultural producers developing margins rich in flowers around their fields.
EU commissioner for environment, characterized the conservation status of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “dire”.
“Urgent and collective action is needed to confront this danger. Along with member states, the EU Commission has established an Europe-wide tracking system for pollinating insects based on the EU nature restoration regulation, which will aid in following our development. Now, we need to focus on application and partnership with participating nations to safeguard our pollinating insects,” she said.
The publication of the bee and butterfly assessments is subsequent to the initial EU-wide assessment of hoverflies, an additional vital pollinator group. Issued in 2022, it showed that thirty-seven percent of all hoverfly varieties in Europe were threatened with extinction.
