Bees, butterflies and hoverflies are not just symbols of spring: without them, three out of four crops would disappear from our plates. But their future hangs by a thread. In Europe, almost half of pollinating insect populations are in decline, and a third are already considered threatened. Wild bees have declined by 56% in ten years, while European butterflies at risk of extinction have gone from 9% to 15% in just fifteen years.
To counter this emergency, Life PolliNetwork was born, the most ambitious national project dedicated to the protection of pollinators, co-financed by the European Union with the support of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) and the Cariplo Foundation. Coordinated by WWF Italy, the program brings together universities, public bodies, agricultural companies and infrastructure managers in a single coalition to reverse the trend of biodiversity loss.
The goal is to transform roads, railways and electricity stations into “Buzz Lines”, ecological corridors where pollinators can feed, reproduce and move safely between one area and another. By 2030, 88 hectares of habitat will be restored in 11 Italian regions, from the Alps to Sicily, creating a continuous network of spaces favorable to the life of insects.
The project partners include Anas, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, Terna, Copagri, and the universities of Turin, Bologna and Pisa, together with ISPRA and TeamDev Ecosystem, which will develop digital tools to plan interventions. The areas involved – roadsides, WWF oases, farms – will become true biodiversity laboratories.
But Life PolliNetwork will not be limited to habitats. A broad training and public participation plan is planned: 5,000 teachers and students involved, workshops for technicians and farmers, and citizen science activities to monitor the species and raise awareness among at least 100,000 citizens. “Bio-blitz” will also be organised, days open to all to observe and census the pollinating fauna.
The project aims to achieve a 10-30% increase in pollinator populations monitored over the five-year duration, but above all to build a model that can be replicated throughout Europe. Italy, which hosts one of the richest pollinator communities on the continent, thus becomes a key laboratory for the National Biodiversity Strategy and for the implementation of the European Regulation on Nature Restoration.
Behind the numbers and acronyms, there is a clear message: protecting pollinators means protecting ourselves. Without them there would be no fruits, vegetables or most of the products that fill our tables. Life PolliNetwork therefore represents a collective bet – scientific, political and cultural – to restore space and future to the insects that keep ecosystems alive.
With a network that runs along roads, tracks and cultivated fields, Italy tries to weave a new alliance with nature. And if all goes as planned, the hum of pollinators could once again become the most promising sound on our landscape by 2030.
