Researchers say the long-term survival of bees is at risk due to wars including Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Conflicts worldwide are causing farmers to overexploit available land and reduce crop variety, which in turn limits the availability of food for wild pollinators, according to a new report published Tuesday — which was World Bee Day — by Bee:wild, an advocacy group, and the University of Reading.
Heavy metal pollution, another common side effect of wars, is also an emerging threat to the species.
“Pollinators are central to our food systems, climate resilience, and economic security. Protecting pollinators means protecting ourselves,” said Simon Potts, professor of sustainable land management at the University of Reading and the study’s lead author.
