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Currently, one in 10 bee and butterfly species and one in three
hoverfly species is threatened with extinction.
The seven-year plan presented by the EU will also increase
monitoring of the insects across the 27 member states, aiming to
halt population decline in pollinators that are crucial to the
majority of crops and wild flowers.
Changing land use, intensive agriculture with pesticides,
pollution, invasive alien species, pathogens and climate change
are among the threats facing pollinating insects.
The European Parliament and the Council, representing EU
governments, will need to endorse the plan. EU members will then
have to identify measures to reverse the decline of pollinators
by 2030, which will be a legal requirement under the EU's Nature
Restoration Law.
Mitigating pesticide use and enhancing pollinator habitats in
agricultural and urban areas were also recommended by the
Commission, and the body will monitor emergency authorisations
granted for harmful pesticides and prohibit use where not
authorised.
France, for example, has dropped plans to allow sugar beet
growers to use a pesticide banned over risks to bees after a
European Union court rejected such an exemption.
The plan is a revision to a 2018 initiative that sought to
improve knowledge and public awareness of the decline of
pollinators. The EU has also restricted the use of three
neonicotinoid pesticides that post a high risk to bees.
However, a review found that current measures were not enough to
reverse the pollinator decline.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Vin Shahrestani)
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