At least 172 wild bee species are at risk of extinction, while more than 40% of butterfly species in Europe are classified as threatened.
These are the numbers that emerge from the latest European-wide assessments for the IUCN Red List, which reassess the conservation status of a large number of species groups for the first time since 2010: bees, butterflies, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, freshwater fish and molluscs, saproxylic (wood-dependent) beetles, dragonflies and damselflies.
The new assessment shows that the conservation status of Europe’s wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators is dire. These are the foundations of our food systems, our ecosystems and our societies. Urgent and collective action is needed to address this threat. Together with Member States, the European Commission has established an EU-wide pollinator monitoring system based on the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, which will help monitor progress, said Jessika Roswall, European Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy.
The growing threats to wild bees, bumblebees and butterflies
IUCN assessments estimate that 10% of wild bees in Europe (at least 172 out of 1,928 species assessed) are at risk of extinction. This compares with 77 threatened species in 2014.
Fifteen species of bumblebees – known for their role in the pollination of legumes such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover – as well as 14 species of cellophane bees – which help pollinate plants in the daisy family and trees such as red maples and willows – are now classified as threatened. The mining bee species Simpanurgus phyllopodusthe only species of this genus in Europe and unique on the continent, is now assessed as critically endangered.
As for butterflies, the new Red List assessments also indicate that 15% of butterflies in Europe are at risk of extinction (65 out of 442 species assessed), up from 37 species in 2010. Over 40% of butterflies, unique to the European region and found nowhere else in the world, are now threatened or close to being threatened. One species, the great white of Madeira (Pieris wollastoni), which was restricted to the Portuguese island of Madeira, is now officially classified as extinct.
Why are we losing pollinating insects?
Needless to say, habitat loss continues to be the main threat to Europe’s wild bees and butterflies, but now affects more species. European pollinators are largely dependent on traditional rural landscapes, particularly flower-rich meadows created by non-intensive management. Agricultural and forestry intensification, combined with land abandonment in less productive areas, is contributing to the degradation and fragmentation of habitats crucial for the survival of pollinators.
Additionally, nitrogen deposition from fertilizers and widespread pesticide applications, including herbicides that reduce flower diversity, are negatively impacting many pollinators such as dufourea shiny (Dufourea minuta), a once widespread bee species that has now almost completely disappeared from the central European plains and is classified as endangered.
Compounding these challenges, climate change now affects 52% of threatened butterfly species, about double the previous report. Prolonged warm spells, droughts and forest fires are increasingly deteriorating butterfly habitats in southern Europe, while invading sensitive peatland and tundra habitats in alpine and boreal areas. Several species, such as the critically endangered Nevada grayling (Pseudochazara williamsi), now limited to a few mountain ranges in south-eastern Spain, suffer from a combination of habitat loss and climate change.
The effects of warmer temperatures on bees are more varied: while bumblebees and other groups of cold-adapted species are negatively affected, others, such as carpenter bees, benefit from warmer temperatures, which accelerate their development and reproduction.
Up to 90% of flowering plants in Europe depend on animal pollination, in particular on bees, which are very diverse in number and variety of species – concludes Denis Michez, professor at the University of Mons and main coordinator of the evaluation of European wild bees. Unfortunately, wild bee populations are in drastic decline and cannot be easily replaced by managed colonies, which comprise less than 1% of existing species and are selected for breeding. their ability to produce honey or pollinate crops. If wild bees disappear, many wild plants could also be at risk, of which flower-rich meadows and beautiful orchid species are just a few examples.
