Bees and other wild pollinators are a vital component of our ecosystem and food supply. It’s estimated that bees alone pollinate approximately 75 percent of all the fruits, nuts, and vegetables grown in the United States.
While managed honey bees provide the majority of pollination services, wild pollinators are significant contributors as well. In many cases, crops are directly dependent on bees and other invertebrates for pollination.
However, populations of bees and other pollinators have been in significant decline over the past two decades, attributed to various factors including pesticides, parasites, viruses, loss of foraging habitat, and a changing climate.
In addition to declines in managed bee populations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists more than 50 wild pollinator species as being threatened or endangered, and wild honey bee populations have dropped 25 percent since 1990.
The goal of the Farmland Pollinator Protection Project is to grow populations of managed honey bees and wild pollinators by increasing high-quality pollinator habitat and forage resources on protected farms.
Providing high-quality habitat on well-managed farmland is a promising way to attract and increase both managed and wild pollinator populations. This same high-quality habitat can also be used by beneficial insects, such as predatory beetles and parasitic wasps. A 2006 estimate put the value of natural pest control by beneficial insects at $4.5 billion annually.
Nyuki na wadudu wengine wa porini ni sehemu muhimu ya mazingira yetu na ugavi wa chakula. Inakadiriwa kwamba nyuki peke yao huchanganya karibu asilimia 75 ya matunda, karanga, na mboga zote zinazokuzwa Marekani. Ingawa nyuki wa asali wanaotunzwa hutoa huduma nyingi za kupaka chavua, wapiga chavua wa porini ni wachangiaji muhimu pia. Katika visa vingi, mazao hutegemea moja kwa moja nyuki na wanyama wengine wasio na uti wa mgongo kwa ajili ya kupandikiza. Hata hivyo, idadi ya nyuki na wadudu wengine wa kupunguzwa kwa mimea imepungua sana katika miongo miwili iliyopita, kutokana na sababu mbalimbali, ikiwa ni pamoja na dawa za kuua wadudu, vimelea, virusi, kupoteza mazingira ya kutafuta chakula, na mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa. Kwa sababu ya kupungua kwa idadi ya nyuki, Marekani Shirika la Ulinzi wa Samaki na Wanyama wa Pori (Fish and Wildlife Service) limeorodhesha spishi zaidi ya 50 za vimelea vya asili kuwa ziko hatarini, na idadi ya nyuki wa asili imepungua kwa asilimia 25 tangu mwaka 1990. Lengo la mradi wa ulinzi wa pollinator ya mashamba ni kuongeza idadi ya nyuki wa asali na pollinators ya mwituni kwa kuongeza mazingira ya pollinator ya ubora wa juu na rasilimali za chakula kwenye mashamba yaliyohifadhiwa. Kutoa makazi ya hali ya juu kwenye ardhi ya kilimo inayosimamiwa vizuri ni njia ya kuahidi kuvutia na kuongeza idadi ya pollinators iliyosimamiwa na ya mwitu. Mazingira hayo yenye ubora wa juu yanaweza pia kutumiwa na wadudu wenye manufaa, kama vile mbawakawa wawindaji na nyigu. Kulingana na ripoti ya mwaka 2006, thamani ya kudhibiti wadudu kwa kutumia wadudu wenye manufaa ni dola bilioni 4.5 kwa mwaka.