SHOWCASE coordinator Prof. David Kleijn of Wageningen University and Research and project partners from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Centre for Ecological Research (Hungary), and the University of Reading took part in a recently conducted Expert consultation workshop on EU actions for pollinators in agricultural landscapes. The workshop took place online on 28 September 2021, and was organised by the Austrian Environmental Agency on behalf of the European Commission.

The main aim of the workshop was to provide expert insight of the possible actions for wild pollinator protection within the perspective of EU agriculture. The results from the workshop’s discussions are going to be a part of the policy considerations of the EU within the EU Pollinators Initiative.

The opening session of the workshop was publicly available and featured insightful statements by commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, members of the EU Parliament Franc Bogovic and Aleš Irgolič, stakeholders and representatives of Member States. The opening session was also a part of the large-scale event EU Pollinator Week.

In his talk on the opening session, SHOWCASE coordinator Prof. David Kleijn provided insight in the prominent research results on the topic of pollinators in semi-natural habitats. He focused on wild bees, hoverflies, and butterflies. “Pollinators in semi-natural habitats are hardly affected by the intensity of management on neighbouring fields, but pesticides can have a high impact on pollinators in the wider landscape. The big question is how much semi-natural habitat is needed to sustain pollinator communities in agricultural landscapes”, stated Prof. Kleijn.

The second part of the event was available only to selected participants, amongst which were researchers from the SHOWCASE consortium. The workshop discussed the pressures and measures in agriculture on European wild pollinators.

“The workshop was designed to be useful, and after a series of prioritization exercises, we identified clear measures to help pollinators that could be linked to policy. Among those, a more coordinated planning of conservation actions at the landscape scale was identified as a clear next step”, commented project partner Ignasi Bartomeus of CSIC.

Watch the recording of the opening session here.

Find out more about the EU Pollinator Initiative here.

Photo: Prof. David Kleijn providing insight in the prominent research results on the topic of pollinators in semi-natural habitats.