Bees: Conservation

(asked on 1st November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the future of UK agriculture without a healthy bee population.


Answered by
George Eustice Portrait
George Eustice
This question was answered on 7th November 2017

Bees and other pollinators play an essential role in our £100 billion food industry. In 2014, Defra published an independent review of the evidence on the status and value of pollinators. The review estimated that pollinators added approximately £600 million per year to the value of UK crops through increased yield in oil seed rape and various fruit and vegetables.

The review identified an overall decline in wild and honey bees over the past 50 years highlighting the potential future risk to the yield or quality of UK crops, and recommending future research.

The research evidence base on pollinators and pollination is constantly improving and we keep this under review through our expert advisory groups. We are also taking action both to understand better any future risks and to mitigate them. In collaboration with research institutes, the Devolved Administrations and volunteer organisations, we have established a pollinator monitoring and research partnership to gather further data and improve our understanding of the status of pollinators and pollination services in the UK. We have also introduced a Pollinator and Wildlife Package to our Countryside Stewardship Scheme in England, and are working with farmers, business and conservation organisations to provide pollinator habitat on farmland, in urban areas and in gardens in order to boost pollinator populations.

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