The total of native bee varieties in the European continent facing disappearance has over doubled during the previous ten-year period, while the count of endangered butterfly species has almost doubled.
This dire scenario for vital pollinating species was unveiled by scientific assessments for the IUCN red list, which determined that at least one hundred seventy-two bee types out of 1,928 were at risk of extinction in the European continent.
The total of butterfly species at risk of extinction in Europe has risen from thirty-seven to sixty-five since the last study, carried out a decade and a half ago. One type, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been classified as extinct.
Apart from their beauty and cultural value, pollinating species like bees and butterflies are crucial elements for our health, our food supplies and our economies – sustaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that nourish us,” stated the IUCN director general. “The newest assessments of the European red list reveal major obstacles, with threats growing for butterfly types and essential wild bee varieties.”
The reasons of the swift recent drops are the ongoing harm or degradation of living environments caused by farming intensification and abandoned land, wetland drainage, overgrazing by livestock, and the utilization of chemical fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoids. The division of pollinator-friendly habitat significantly raises the threat of disappearances in specific areas.
Global heating is also revealed to be a primary risk: 52% of all threatened butterfly types in Europe are threatened by the climate emergency – roughly double the number as a decade ago.
Nearly ninety percent of flowering plants in the European continent require pollination by animals, as stated by Dr Denis Michez. “Regrettably, native bee groups are in sharp decrease and cannot readily be substituted by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If non-managed bees die out, many wild plants might be in danger as well – of which flower-rich meadows and beautiful orchid species are just a few examples.”
Fifteen species of bumblebee types, which perform a vital function in fertilizing crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bee types, known for fertilizing trees such as willows and red maples, are now listed as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee exclusive to the European continent and the single type of this biological genus in the European continent, is now assessed as severely threatened – the scientific category nearest to disappearance in the wild.
Butterflies that are solely present on high-altitude areas are particularly vulnerable to global warming as they have to climb upward as their environments become warmer but eventually run out of space. In southern Spain, the Nevada grayling and the Andalusian anomalous blue butterfly are among over forty percent of species endemic to Europe (exclusive to Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, types such as the severely threatened grayling of Karpathos are endangered by severe drought and wildfires.
In the meantime, in the Far North, climate change is causing the forest boundary to move north by many meters each year, with scrub invading wetlands and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean caribou can no more cross the ice sheets to feed on northern grasslands and keep them open. 8 butterfly varieties are threatened with extinction in this region, including the fritillary of Freyja and the Arctic ringlet.
“The greatest environment for all these pollinating insects is flower-rich grassland and that is vanishing rapidly in Europe because of all these reasons,” remarked one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The positive thing is that so many people are aware now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the European Union nature restoration law, all member countries have to reverse the decline in pollinators by the year 2030, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are property owners who are engaged. We hope they can obtain the motivations that will assist them on their way.”
According to Martin Warren, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of action for pollinating species which won’t reduce crop yields – and may enhance it – such as growers establishing margins rich in flowers around their farmland.
the EU’s environment commissioner, portrayed the preservation condition of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “dire”.
“Prompt and unified steps is needed to confront this threat. Along with member states, the EU Commission has implemented an EU-wide observation system for pollinating species based on the European Union nature restoration legislation, which will help to track our development. Now, we need to concentrate on implementation and cooperation with member countries to preserve our pollinators,” she said.
The publication of the assessments on bees and butterflies is subsequent to the pioneering EU-wide evaluation of hoverflies, another vital pollinator group. Released in twenty-twenty-two, it showed that 37% of all hoverfly types in the European continent were at risk of extinction.
