The count of wild bee types in European nations facing dying out has over doubled in the last ten years, while the total of endangered butterfly types has close to doubled.
This critical situation for crucial pollinating insects was unveiled by scientific assessments for the IUCN red list, which determined that at least over 170 bee types out of over 1900 were at risk of extinction in the European continent.
The number of butterfly types threatened with extinction in Europe has grown from 37 to 65 since the previous assessment, carried out a decade and a half ago. One species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been declared extinct.
Apart from their visual charm and cultural importance, pollinators like bees and butterflies are essential supports for our well-being, our food supplies and our economies – supporting the fruits, veggies and seeds that nourish us,” stated the IUCN director general. “The most recent assessments of the European red list reveal major obstacles, with risks growing for butterfly types and vital wild bee types.”
The reasons of the rapid recent declines are the persistent destruction or damage of habitats caused by farming intensification and deserted farmland, draining wetlands, overgrazing by livestock, and the utilization of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoid pesticides. The breaking up of habitat friendly to pollinators significantly raises the risk of extinctions at local level.
Global warming is also revealed to be a major threat: Over half of all at-risk butterfly types in Europe are imperilled by the climate change crisis – about twofold the amount as a decade ago.
Nearly ninety percent of flowering plants in Europe depend on pollination by animals, as stated by the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Regrettably, non-managed bee colonies are in drastic decline and are not easily replaceable by domesticated hives,” he said. “If native bees disappear, many wild plants might be at risk too – of which bloom-filled grasslands and attractive orchid varieties are just a couple of instances.”
Fifteen species of bumblebee species, which have an essential part in fertilizing peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bees, famous for aiding tree pollination such as willows along with red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species unique to the mainland and the single type of this biological genus in European nations, is now assessed as critically endangered – the research category nearest to extinction in the wild.
Butterfly types that are only found on mountain peaks are especially at risk to climate change as they have to climb upward as their environments become more heated but ultimately have no room left. In the southern part of Spain, the grayling of Nevada and the Andalusian anomalous blue are among over forty percent of European endemics (solely present in Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, varieties such as the highly at-risk Karpathos grayling are threatened by intense drought and wildfires.
In the meantime, in the Arctic Circle, climate change is causing the timberline to advance northwards by tens of metres each year, with underbrush taking over wetlands and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean caribou can no more cross the ice to graze Arctic meadows and prevent them from overgrowing. Eight butterfly species are threatened with extinction in this region, including Freyja’s fritillary and the Arctic ringlet butterfly.
“The largest environment for all these pollinating insects is flower-rich grassland and that is vanishing rapidly in the European continent because of all these elements,” remarked a lead coordinator for the butterfly assessment. “The encouraging aspect is that so many citizens are concerned now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the EU nature restoration legislation, all member countries have to reverse the decrease in pollinating species by the year 2030, and they are going to have to initiate measures. There are property owners who are engaged. It is hoped they can get the motivations that will help them on their way.”
According to Warren, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of measures for pollinators which won’t reduce crop yields – and may enhance it – such as growers establishing flower-rich margins around their farmland.
the EU’s environment commissioner, portrayed the protection status of non-managed bees, butterfly species and other pollinating insects as “severe”.
“Immediate and joint measures is necessary to address this danger. In collaboration with participating nations, the European Commission has established an EU-wide monitoring system for pollinating insects based on the EU nature restoration law, which will help to track our development. Now, we need to prioritize execution and collaboration with member states to protect our pollinating insects,” she said.
The release of the assessments on bees and butterflies follows the initial Europe-wide assessment of hoverflies, an additional vital group of pollinators. Issued in 2022, it disclosed that thirty-seven percent of all hoverfly varieties in Europe were facing extinction.
