POLLINATORS POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION

THE ASSESSMENT REPORT ON POLLINATORS, POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION
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6. RESPONSES TO RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES ASSOCIATED
WITH POLLINATORS AND POLLINATION
6.3 TYPOLOGY OF
RESPONSES
Responses can be classified according to: the driver or
threat generating a need for action (e.g., habitat loss,
pesticides), the actors taking the action (from private
individuals to intergovernmental institutions), the type of
action (e.g., policy, financial, etc.) or the scale of impact
(international, regional, etc.). Most sets of responses could
be variously classified according to all these different
classifications, and there is no right way, but there is
usually a way that seems most logical and informative for a
particular subject.
Previous attempts to classify responses relating to
ecosystem services include the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (Chopra et al., 2005), the UK National
Ecosystem Assessment (UK NEA; Brown et al., 2014),
and a recent policy analysis carried out by the Food and
Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, which
classified policy responses for pollinators into six themes
(FAO; Rose et al., 2014).
After reviewing these typologies, we decided classifying
by type of action is the most straightforward way to group
BOX 6.1
Types of response
TECHNICAL. These responses are tools and procedures
that people use to manage pollinators or pollination, or land
management approaches that could benefit pollinators.
For example, they include farming or agroforestry practices
such as organic farming and crop rotation (section 6.4.1),
techniques to reduce the impact of pesticide use (6.4.2),
creation or restoration of pollinator habitat (6.4.3) and methods
of bee disease control (6.4.4).
LEGAL. These responses are mandatory rules at international,
national and regional levels (‘hard’ law) and also non-legally
binding treaties, guidelines, standards and codes of practice
developed by law-making institutions (‘soft’ law). For
pollinators and pollination, the responses include habitat or
species protection through conservation designations, and
controlling imports of non-native species, for example.
ECONOMIC. These responses are financial or economic
actions either to either punish bad practices or provide
economic incentives for good practices, related to pollinators.
They include, for example, taxes on pesticides that increment
their costs and reduce the benefits for the farmers (6.4.2),
incentive payments to farmers for pollinator-friendly practices
responses for pollinators and pollination. Classifications
based on actors, scales or threats were less useful, as many
responses involve several actors working together, operate
at several scales or respond to many possible threats.
For our action-based typology, we adapted the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment model (MEA, 2011), including
their technological, legal, economic and social/behavioural
categories, and modifying their cognitive category to
one that included not only research and indigenous and
traditional knowledge, but also education and awarenessraising
(see definitions in Box). Our definitions were informed
also by the NEA and FAO reports.
The six thematic policy areas identified by the FAO exercise
(Rose et al., 2014) are listed in Table 6.3.1. These were
identified by policymakers and scientists from eleven,
predominantly developing countries, as a set of successful
approaches for decision makers to support. We did not use
them to structure our chapter, because they represent a
mix of policy sectors (e.g., pesticides, nature conservation)
and action types (e.g., economic, social/behavioural and
knowledge). Table 6.3.1 shows where in this chapter
relevant information can be found.
(6.4.1), and markets instruments such as payments for
ecosystem services (6.4.3).
SOCIAL/BEHAVIOURAL: These responses focus on
the informal institutions, governance and decision-making
processes that shape people’s choices. They include
participatory processes to involve communities in decisionmaking
(not the same as involving communities in research
and knowledge gathering), adaptive management of native
habitats, and voluntary codes of practice generated by
community, consumer or industry groups rather than by lawmaking
institutions.
KNOWLEDGE. Knowledge responses include actions that
generate new knowledge and actions that transfer or share
knowledge among groups of actors. They cover scientific
research and monitoring, as well as documenting and sharing
indigenous and local knowledge. They also include education,
outreach, knowledge exchange and collaborative research
activities. These are distinguished from social and behavioural
actions because they focus on the communication or
transfer of knowledge, rather than on decisions, actions and
behaviour.