The count of wild bee types in European nations facing disappearance has over doubled over the past decade, while the count of threatened butterfly species has close to doubled.
This dire scenario for essential pollinating species was revealed by scientific studies for the red list of threatened species, which established that at least over 170 bee species out of 1,928 were facing extinction in Europe.
The number of butterflies threatened with extinction in European nations has increased from 37 to over sixty since the previous assessment, carried out over a decade past. One type, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
“Beyond their beauty and cultural value, pollinators like bees along with butterflies are essential supports for our well-being, our food supplies and our economies – sustaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that nourish us,” said the IUCN’s director general. “The latest European red list evaluations reveal serious challenges, with risks increasing for butterfly types and essential native bee species.”
The causes of the swift recent drops are the persistent damage or destruction of habitats caused by farming intensification and abandoned land, wetland drainage, livestock overgrazing, and the utilization of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoid pesticides. The fragmentation of pollinator-friendly habitat significantly raises the threat of extinctions at local level.
Global warming is also revealed to be a significant danger: 52% of all endangered butterflies in European nations are endangered by the climate change crisis – roughly twice as many as a previous decade.
Up to 90% of plants that flower in Europe depend on pollination by animals, as stated by the lead coordinator of the wild bee assessment. “Unfortunately, wild bee populations are in sharp decrease and cannot readily be substituted by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If wild bees vanish, many non-cultivated plants might be at risk too – of which bloom-filled grasslands and attractive orchid varieties are just a couple of instances.”
15 varieties of bumblebee species, which play a crucial role in aiding the pollination of crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 types of cellophane bee species, famous for fertilizing trees such as willow trees and red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species exclusive to the continent and the only species of this genus group in the European continent, is now assessed as critically endangered – the research category closest to dying out in natural habitats.
Butterfly types that are solely present on mountain tops are especially at risk to global heating as they have to climb upward as their living spaces become more heated but ultimately exhaust available space. In Spain’s southern region, the grayling of Nevada and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among above 40 percent of types unique to Europe (solely present in Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean region, species such as the critically endangered Karpathos grayling butterfly are threatened by intense drought and wildfires.
In the meantime, in the Arctic region, global warming is causing the forest boundary to shift northward by dozens of meters each year, with underbrush taking over wetlands and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean Arctic deer can not anymore cross the ice sheets to browse Arctic meadows and keep them open. Eight butterfly species are facing extinction in this area, including the fritillary of Freyja and the Arctic ringlet butterfly.
“The greatest environment for all these pollinating insects is bloom-filled grassy areas and that is disappearing very fast throughout European nations because of all these elements,” stated one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The good news is that so many individuals care now and there’s a lot more awareness. Under the European Union nature restoration law, all participating nations have to reverse the decline in pollinators by 2030, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are landowners who are engaged. Let’s hope they can obtain the motivations that will assist them on their way.”
As per Warren, there is “readily achievable actions” in terms of action for pollinators which will not lower crop yields – and might boost it – such as agricultural producers developing bloom-filled edges around their farmland.
the EU’s environment commissioner, described the preservation condition of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “critical”.
“Urgent and collective action is necessary to address this risk. Along with member states, the EU Commission has established an Europe-wide tracking system for pollinators based on the European Union nature restoration legislation, which will aid in following our development. Now, we need to prioritize execution and partnership with member states to preserve our pollinators,” she said.
The issuance of the evaluations of bees along with butterflies comes after the pioneering EU-wide evaluation of hoverflies, another essential group of pollinators. Issued in 2022, it disclosed that thirty-seven percent of all hoverfly varieties in Europe were facing extinction.
