Research suggests a sharp decline in the number of honey bees on our planet every year, and since the 1990s, large numbers of working bees have disappeared, especially in winter.
In 2006, scientists identified a cause-of-death phenomenon that they called bee colony collapse syndrome, and scientists predict a complete extinction of these insects next century.
During the FAO celebration of World Bee Day 2019, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) called on States to intensify their efforts to protect our key allies in the fight against hunger and stated in its report that the decline in bee populations poses a threat to global food security and nutrition.
A world without bees
More than 75% of the world’s food crops depend on pollination, and without bees we will not have these nutritious foods. Bees play an essential role in keeping us and our planet healthy, but bees and other pollinators are threatened by intensive agriculture, single crop dependence, pesticides and climate change.
With this great danger, human scientists are advising that our little friends should be protected through some small practices: growing flowering plants, refraining from using pesticides, raising awareness about the importance of bees, especially for children and young people, and caring about beekeeping on rooftops, our food future depends on us all.
An entomological association
We had a meeting with Passant Essam, an insect blogger, who dreams of founding an insect – friendly association to ensure biodiversity continuity.
“Essam”: asserts that the disaster that will occur if an insect becomes extinct is the same as the disaster that will occur if all insects become extinct, depending on the time period.
She points out that: Studies and research have predicted the end of the world if all insects disappear from the planet by 50 years, because insects, besides performing their important pollination function, perform many other functions that are important to humanity, and 70% of plants depend on insect pollination for their growth”.
“Essam”: adds that the absence of insects will be a disaster for all groups and ages, especially the sick and the first care group, because the drugs will be reduced by the absence of plants from which the effective substances in the pharmaceutical industry are derived, as a result of the absence of insects”.
Jordan is worried about bee mortality
The combined regional report for the Near East and North Africa region on the status of biodiversity issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations “FAO,” in Jordan, expected increases in temperature and low rainfall rates could negatively affect the genetic resources of food and agriculture, particularly native livestock breeds, endemic wild plant varieties and local honey bees.
Jordan also reported on the conservation of local bee species, including the Syrian honey bee species Apis mellifera siriaca, to protect them from extinction and ensure the sustainability of beekeeping activities to alleviate poverty and achieve food security.
This report has been published as an activity of online Workshop on biodiversity and ecosystem services organized by Africa 21
