Page 7 - Katalog Beebaby

Pollinators are increasingly under threat from human activities and countries must transform their agricultural
practices to ensure global crop production can meet demand and avoid substantial economic losses.

“Pollinators affect all of us. The food that we eat like our fruits and vegetables, our coffee and chocolate, all
rely on pollinators. However, pollinators are facing many challenges, from intensive agriculture, pesticides,
climate change, which are putting a lot of pressure on them,” - Professor Simon Potts of the University of
Reading.

According to the global assessment on pollinators produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform
on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), 75 per cent of our food crops and nearly 90 per cent of wild
flowering plants depend to some extent on animal pollination, which is the transfer of pollen between the
male and female parts of flowers to enable fertilization and reproduction.

In addition, the annual value of global crops that depend on pollinators is estimated to be worth $577 billion.

Without pollinators, crops such as coffee, cacao and apples would drastically suffer, and changes in global crop
supplies could increase prices to consumers and reduce profits to producers, resulting in a potential annual
net loss of economic welfare of $160 billion-$191 billion globally.

Beyond food, pollinators also contribute directly to medicines, bio fuels, fibers like cotton and linen, and
construction materials.

“Pollination services are an ‘agricultural input’ that ensures the production of crops. All farmers, especially
family farmers and smallholders around the world, benefit from these services,” said José Graziano da Silva,
Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the (FAO).

“Improving pollinator density and diversity has a direct positive impact on crop yields, consequently
promoting food and nutrition security. Hence, enhancing pollinator services is important for achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals, as well as for helping family farmers’ adaptation to climate change.”

The majority of pollinator species are wild, including more than 20,000 species of bees, some species of flies,
butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, birds, bats and other vertebrates. Currently, 16 per cent of vertebrate
pollinators, and more than 40 per cent of invertebrate pollinators, are facing global extinction.

There are number of solutions to halt the decline in pollinators. Some of these include: the promotion of
sustainable agriculture, creating greater diversity of pollinator habitats in agricultural and urban landscapes,
crop rotation, using indigenous local knowledge and decreasing use of pesticides.

Recognizing that this is a pressing issue, 11 European countries have already announced a “Coalition of the
Willing on Pollinators” at COP13, which seeks to implement national pollinator strategies, consistent with
IPBES report and share new approaches, innovations and best practices, as well as establish new partnerships
to safeguard these valuable creatures.

To support BEES as most important pollinators, for every sold Bee Baby bottle tote we will donate 5% of
sales value! Donation will go to the nonprofit organizations that are promoting and supporting BEES as most
important pollinators and actively work on solutions to save the bees.