Worrying Increase in Endangered Native Bee Varieties Throughout Europe

The total of wild bee species in Europe facing extinction has increased twofold over the past decade, whereas the count of endangered butterfly types has close to doubled.

This dire scenario for vital pollinators was disclosed by scientific assessments for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, which found that at least 172 bee species out of 1,928 were facing extinction in Europe.

The count of butterflies at risk of extinction in Europe has increased from thirty-seven to sixty-five since the last study, conducted a decade and a half ago. A single species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.

Apart from their beauty and cultural value, pollinating insects like bees and butterflies are essential supports for our health, our food systems and our economic systems – maintaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that nourish us,” said the IUCN’s director general. “The newest European red list assessments reveal serious challenges, with risks increasing for butterflies and vital non-managed bee species.”

The reasons of the rapid recent declines are the persistent destruction or damage of living environments caused by intensive agriculture and land abandonment, wetland drainage, overgrazing by livestock, and the utilization of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoid pesticides. The breaking up of environments suitable for pollinators greatly increases the threat of extinctions at local level.

Global warming is also shown to be a primary risk: Fifty-two percent of all at-risk butterflies in European nations are threatened by the climate crisis – about double the number as a decade ago.

Nearly ninety percent of plants that flower in Europe require insect pollination, as stated by Dr Denis Michez. “Regrettably, native bee populations are in drastic decline and cannot readily be substituted by managed colonies,” he said. “If native bees disappear, many wild plants might be at risk too – of which flower-rich meadows and attractive orchid varieties are just a few examples.”

Fifteen species of bumblebees, which perform a vital function in fertilizing legumes like peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bee types, recognized for aiding tree pollination such as willow trees and red maples, are now classified as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species found only in the mainland and the only species of this genus in Europe, is now classified as critically endangered – the research category nearest to disappearance in the wild.

Butterfly species that are exclusively located on mountain peaks are highly susceptible to climate change as they have to climb upward as their living spaces become hotter but eventually exhaust available space. In the southern part of Spain, the Nevada grayling and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among above 40 percent of types unique to Europe (exclusive to Europe) threatened with extinction.

In the Mediterranean, species such as the highly at-risk Karpathos grayling butterfly are threatened by extreme drought and wildfires.

At the same time, in the Arctic Circle, global warming is leading to the timberline to shift northward by dozens of meters each year, with bushes taking over wetlands and tundra. Hotter climates also mean reindeer can not anymore cross the frozen water to browse northern grasslands and prevent them from overgrowing. Eight types of butterflies are facing extinction in this area, including Freyja’s fritillary butterfly and the ringlet of the Arctic.

“The biggest habitat for all these pollinating species is flower-rich grassland and that is declining quickly in the European continent because of all these factors,” said one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The positive thing is that so many individuals care now and there’s a lot more consciousness. Under the European Union nature restoration law, all member states have to halt the decline in pollinating insects by the year 2030, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are landowners who are involved. We hope they can obtain the incentives that will help them on their way.”

As stated by the coordinator, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of steps for pollinating insects which will not decrease crop yields – and might boost it – such as growers establishing bloom-filled edges around their farmland.

EU commissioner for environment, described the preservation condition of wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators as “critical”.

“Urgent and collective action is required to tackle this threat. Along with member countries, the European Commission has implemented an European Union-wide tracking system for pollinators based on the EU nature restoration regulation, which will assist in monitoring our progress. Now, we need to concentrate on execution and collaboration with participating nations to protect our pollinators,” she said.

The issuance of the bee and butterfly assessments is subsequent to the pioneering EU-wide assessment of hoverflies, another crucial pollinating insect category. Issued in 2022, it revealed that over one-third of all hoverfly species in the European continent were threatened with extinction.