June 21, 2010

insect pollinators – why are they declining and what can we do about it

Speakers:
Prof Andrew Watkinson, Director, Living With Environmental Change
Dr Giles Budge, National Bee Unit, Food and Environment Research Agency
Dr Claire Carvell, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, NERC
Prof Jane Memmott, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol

Pollinating insects such as honeybees, bumblebees, hoverflies and moths pollinate one third of the agricultural crops across the world, but they are vulnerable to threats including pests, diseases and environmental change, all of which have increased over the last five to ten years. This raises significant concern about our ability to feed a growing population set to reach 9 billion by 2050. Nine new projects totalling up to £10M are being funded by a consortium of public and charity funders, and leading researchers came to the SMC to discuss the challenges involved and the work being done to tackle them.