Pollinators
(asked on 13th January 2016) - 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 estimate her Department has made of the (a) economic contribution of pollinator activity across the UK and (b) potential last economic value if pollinator populations continue to decline at present rates; and if she will make a statement.
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[1]. The review estimated the total value of all pollinators through the value of insect-pollinated crops in the UK as approximately £600 million, updating estimates of around £400 million in previous Defra-funded research. It also concluded that there was insufficient data to calculate the ‘lost economic value’ of ongoing or likely future changes in pollinator populations.