POLLINATORS POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION

THE ASSESSMENT REPORT ON POLLINATORS, POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION
We urge ongoing investment in method development for
identifying best practice, risk assessment, vulnerability
assessment, mapping pollination, and decision
support tools. There are a number of specific gaps, or
methodological uncertainties.
For example, it is necessary to analyse the strengths
and weaknesses of methods for mapping pollination and
validating pollination maps. Mapping techniques should be
standardised to improve the use of pollination information in
decision making. The pollination must be incorporated into
global Integrated Assessment Models to accomplish new
perspectives for stakeholders when deciding on complex
environmental problems.
Risk assessment methods for wild pollinators and sub-lethal
effects of current practices in agro-environments have still to
be considered when quantifying and mapping the supply or
demand of pollination.
The diversity of pollinators and pollination should be
incorporated into a range of standard model sets for
analysing trade-offs between ecosystem services, especially
pollination with treatment of non-monetary values such as,
for example, the value loss associated with a decrease of
native pollinators.
6.9 CONCLUSION
The available strategic responses to the risks and
opportunities associated with pollinators range in
ambition and timescale, from immediate, relatively easy
responses to reduce or avoid risks, to larger scale, longterm
transformative responses. Table 6.9.1 describes
seven strategies, linked to actions responding to risks and
opportunities, including a range of solutions that draw on
Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK). These strategies can
be adopted in parallel, and would be expected to reduce
risks associated with pollinator decline in any region of the
world, regardless of the extent of available knowledge about
the status of pollinators or the effectiveness of interventions.
The first two strategies (‘Manage immediate risks’ and
‘Exploit immediate opportunities’) are relatively short-term
and low in ambition. Some, not all, of the specific responses
involved would also be part of the longer-term, more
ambitious strategies.
We envisage three possible strategies for moving towards
more resilient, sustainable agriculture in the longer term,
with an associated reduction in risks generated by pollinator
decline: i) ecological intensification, ii) investing in ecological
infrastructure and iii) strengthening existing diverse farming
systems. These are not mutually exclusive, but each has
a different focus. Definitions of ecological intensification,
diversified farming, and other farming systems are provided
in Chapter 1.
Ecological intensification (Bommarco et al., 2013;
Tittonell, 2014) emphasizes management that increases
the intensity of ecological processes that support
production, such as biotic pest regulation, nutrient cycling,
and pollination. It involves making smart use of nature’s
functions and services, at field and landscape scales, to
enhance agricultural productivity and reduce reliance on
agro-chemicals. The end point of ecological intensification
is a farming system that is likely to meet the definition of a
diversified farming system.
Some specific actions that farmers or land managers may
take to achieve ecological intensification are the same as
those that would improve current conditions for pollinators,
listed in the first two rows of Table 6.9.1, such as creating
flower-rich field margins or road verges. In ecological
intensification, these actions would be actively designed to
support pollination of specific crops in the locality.
Strengthening existing diversified farming systems
is an important strategic response because there is clear
evidence that such systems support a higher diversity and
abundance of pollinators. Diversified farms integrate the use
of a mix of crops and/or animals in the production system.
Many such systems are practised by indigenous peoples
and local communities across the globe, and contribute to
maintenance of pollinators and pollination resources (see
Chapter 5, section 5.2.8).
The ecological infrastructure needed to benefit pollination
comprises small to medium-sized patches of semi-natural
habitat, providing nesting and floral resources, distributed
throughout productive agricultural landscapes (see section
6.4.3.1.1). The same approach can also be expected to
benefit the diversity of pollinators and pollination of food
crops in urban areas (see sections 6.4.5.1.1 and 6.4.5.1.2).
Such distributed ecological infrastructure may not be the
same as the infrastructure needed for other ecosystem
services or elements of biodiversity. For example wild
species associated with natural habitats such as wetland
or forest may benefit more from protection of larger areas
of habitat (tens or hundreds of hectares), separated from
agriculture (Phalan et al., 2011), while other species,
including some pollinators, rely on entire landscapes with
diversified farming systems (Loos et al., 2014; Sutcliffe et
al., 2014).
Finally, pollinators and pollination offer a real opportunity to
begin to transform the relationship between humans and
nature, because of their tangible values (Chapter 4), and the
demonstrable benefits of sharing knowledge systems and
working collaboratively across sectors (see Table 6.9.1).
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6. RESPONSES TO RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES ASSOCIATED
WITH POLLINATORS AND POLLINATION