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FAO's Global Action on Pollination Services for Sustainable
Agriculture
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Pollination Database
Shaking up pollination: Buzzing around
Leafcutter bees
Which is more important- honey bees or wild bees? Both!
A tale of two strawberries
Pollination & human livelihoods
Pollination is a keystone process in both human managed and natural terrestrial ecosystems. It is critical for food
production and human livelihoods, and directly links wild ecosystems with agricultrual production systems. The vast
majority of flowering plant species only produce seeds if animal pollination move pollen from the anthers to the stigmas of
their flowers. Without this service, many interconnected species and processes functioning within an ecosystem would
collapse.
In Depth
Understanding
The more we know about pollinators, plant pollination services and the interactions between agro-ecosystems and
pollination management, the more we can understand how to conserve them and manage them to maintain biodiversity,
ensure ecosystem health and improve human livelihoods. Monitoring pollinator declines, monitoring pollinator deficits,
assessing socio-economic values, pollinator identification and understanding plant/pollinator interactions expands the
knowledge base.
Managing
Both wild and managed pollinator populations require habitat and forage resources in order to survive, and the loss of
these – in and around the agroecosystem - compromise crop production. Management practices have been identified and
tested by farmers, to conserve and manage wild pollinator populations. These practices not only benefit pollination
ecosystem services, but contribute to crop diversity (biodiversity), soil health and reduced pesticide use, to name a few.
Learning
Building capacity of persons from different sectors is important not only to raise awareness of pollination, but also to
deploy technical information on pollinators and the role of animal pollination for crop production. Building capacity
through training of different target clients (e.g. farmers, farmer groups, extensionists, educational institutions) provides
opportunities to learn about different aspects of this issue, opportunities to improve in-country technical capacity (e.g.
taxonomic knowledge), and create networks of experts.
Mainstreaming
Approximately 80 percent of all flowering plant species are specialized for pollination by animals, mostly insects, and they
affect 35 percent of the world's crop production, increasing the output of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide.
Pollination is therefore critical to crop production, and awareness of this essential ecosystem service is important for
everyone – the general public including school children, farmers, but also decision makers from local, national to
international levels.
Related links
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Pollination
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Crop and Crop Associated Biodiversity
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Biodiversity
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GlobalAction-Pollination@fao.org
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