The Bee-all and End-all
For such a supposedly intelligent species, we are severely lacking in foresight. Whilst we may rationally understand our own dependence on other species, some part of us is not accepting the alliance of life that we depend upon. We are outright failing to uphold our side of the synergy.
Biological annihilation
I am going to repeat that. “Biological annihilation”. Continuing anthropogenic eradication and destruction of earth’s life is leading to the sixth mass extinction in 3.5 billion years of life on earth. Mass extinctions are defined as more than 75% of species being lost. The current rate of extinction is happening at a rate previously unknown in Earth’s long history. In geological time, it should be impossible to witness any species go extinct. Over one thousand years, an average of one species may go extinct (pre-human influence). Between 2010 and 2020, at least three species have lost the battle to extinction. Since 1900, an average of eight species of plant has gone extinct every 3 years. Humans are responsible. We are the volcano spewing lava on the rest of the Earth.
For context, the previous five extinctions consist of:
Humans, and the rest of life on this planet, are entwined and interconnected in ways we don’t fully understand in an ecosystem vital to our basic survival. We predict that there are approximately 8 million species (not including prokaryotes such as bacteria which could near 1 trillion species) making up the biodiversity on Earth, but science so far can only describe 15% of them. Yes, 85% of the animal kingdom has left humanity in the dark. The conspicuous animals have mostly been found, so we probably aren’t going to discover unicorns or dragons. Left to be discovered includes lots of reptiles and amphibians and perhaps several primates and songbirds. The most comprehensive list of threatened species is that of the IUCN Red List, established in 1964, has assessed 135,000 species. Over 25% of these species are under threat. This a large percentage of the small amount that we know.
“Habitat loss — driven primarily by human expansion as we develop land for housing, agriculture, and commerce — is the biggest threat facing most animal species, followed by hunting and fishing. Even when habitat is not lost entirely, it may be changed so much that animals cannot adapt. Fences fragment a grassland or logging cuts through a forest, breaking up migration corridors; pollution renders a river toxic; pesticides kill widely and indiscriminately. To those local threats one must increasingly add global ones: Trade, which spreads disease and invasive species from place to place, and climate change, which eventually will affect every species on Earth — starting with the animals that live on cool mountaintops or depend on polar ice. All of these threats lead, directly or indirectly, back to humans and our expanding footprint. Most species face multiple threats. Some can adapt to us; others will vanish.”
Elizabeth Kolbert, National Geographic
The threat of the climate crisis looms. Many of the previous extinction events occurred due to volcanic CO2 emissions; humans are emitting CO2 faster than some of history’s most devastating volcanos. As can be seen from the previous extinction events, the “consequences on ecosystem functioning and services vital to sustaining civilisation” are catastrophic (to put it lightly). The extinction rate of insects appears to be particularly hard-hit in this current period, with up to 40% of invertebrate pollinator species under considerable threat, alongside 16% of vertebrate pollinators.
Biodiversibee
Bees have become somewhat of a poster child for biodiversity; I suppose their relative cute and bumbling nature makes them a more relatable bug. However, there are over 200,000 pollinator species known in the world including bees, wasps, flies, moths, butterflies and ants. Numerous vertebrates are also involved in the pollination of plants including species of bats, lemurs, monkies, rodents and birds.
Pollinators are a critical pin in our biospheric infrastructure, providing ecosystem services that ensure food security and nutrition for life on earth. This may sound like an overstatement, but it isn’t.
Ninety per cent of plants are reliant on pollinators for their perpetuation. Plants play a pivotal role in extracting CO2 from our atmosphere. Plants play a pivotal role in our success, or failure, in fighting the climate crisis. See where I’m going with this? Pollinators, therefore, play a pivotal role in fighting the climate crisis. They are our front line.
Within that ninety per cent of plants, there are three-quarters of human crops that are dependent on the services that pollinators provide. And they do all this for free! It is estimated that the contribution of pollinators services to the UK economy can be valued at around £600 million, 2.5% of agriculture’s contribution to UK GDP.
Tasty things to thank the bees (and other pollinators) for:
At a period of human existence where the population and living standards continue to rise and increase the pressure on already imperfect food infrastructure, our dependence on pollinators is particularly vivid. Whilst malnutrition has decreased significantly over the past few decades (from around 35% in developing countries to around 13%), a quarter of the world’s population continue to suffer from food insecurity with 650 million people undernourished. To continue to feed humanity (including you, dear reader), we need to look after our main agricultural contributors: pollinators.
Avoid the lure of beewashing
Companies are increasing in ecological awareness, which can only be a good thing. However, it also brings the risk of greenwashing (an unsubstantiated claim of a company’s environmentally-friendly practices or products), or beewashing. Earlier this year, Marks and Spencer received a negative response to their plan to release millions of honey bees into the English countryside. The issue sparked criticism because releasing one species of bees into the environment does not address the problem, in fact, it may add to the problem. What bees need, is food and habitat, not more bees.
Socioeconomic equality for the environment
Research has shown that “socioeconomic factors have a significant influence on “pollinator abundance”. Gardens were found to have up to 50 times more pollinators than areas laden with manmade surfaces. Some research has found a richer diversity of birds in more affluent neighbourhoods. This isn’t a new phenomenon. There are examples of differing biodiversity levels between labourers and the wealthy back in 1350 BC in Amarna, Egypt. Addressing societal inequalities is important in addressing the many facets of biodiversity decline. Ensuring equitable infrastructure to support biodiversity in urban landscapes and enable sustainable behaviours is essential in our fight for the planet.
What do I do?
- Plant and cultivate native wildflowers, wherever you can fit them. Take some time to choose plants that are native to the area, not just ones that you purchased from your local garden centre. Sometimes, the answer is as simple as having a patch that you just don’t touch and let what naturally grows there, do just that.
- Avoid synthetic pesticides — use natural strategies to deter pests
- Get involved and follow projects that protect pollinators — build your understanding and discuss with others around you
“Humanity will eventually pay a very high price for the decimation of the only assemblage of life that we know of in the universe.”
