The drastic decline of wild and managed bee populations recorded in recent years in Europe and North America is alarming given our reliance on these insect pollinators for biodiversity and global food security.<\/p>\n
Managed honey bees have sharply declined, for instance, by 25% in Europe between 1985 and 2005. This decline of bees has led to the concept of a global \u201cpollination crisis\u201d \u2013 a situation where pollination services by bees are limited and this, in turn, may cause the yield and quality of crops to deteriorate.<\/p>\n
The introduction to this report highlights the importance of bees for global food security, and is followed by a chapter describing the factors causing bee declines. The next\u00a0chapter looks at how farming methods and agricultural landscapes impact on bees.\u00a0Recommendations, based on scientific studies to protect and restore bee populations in\u00a0Europe, are made. The final chapter provides a review of scientific literature on ecological\u00a0pest control. This can provide a means to eliminate the use of synthetic chemical\u00a0pesticides in industrial farming. Research, considered together with existing ecological\u00a0farming practices, confirms that we don\u2019t need pesticides to deal with the pests that live on the crops we want to produce.<\/p>\n
This report clearly shows that agricultural solutions \u2013 to ensure the survival of native bee\u00a0diversity within Europe and save domesticated bees \u2013 are enshrined in the concept of \u201cEcological Farming\u201d. Ecological farming aims to preserve important ecosystems\u00a0and their functions, thereby supporting native bee populations and the pollination\u00a0services they provide. Ecological farming ensures healthy food for today and tomorrow by protecting soil, water and climate. In addition it promotes biodiversity and does not\u00a0contaminate the environment with chemical inputs or genetically modified organisms.\u00a0Ecological farming employs ecological pest control methods and natural means of\u00a0fertilising the land. It employs use of crop rotations and cover crops, use of resistant crop\u00a0varieties and mixed cropping, and promotes the continued development of scientific knowledge.<\/p>\n