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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Many of the world's pollinating animals such as bees and butterflies are at risk of extinction [npr.org], according to a new U.N. report that draws upon around 3,000 scientific papers. Pollinators contribute to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of agricultural activity annually:

A major global assessment of pollinators is raising concerns about the future of the planet's food supply. A U.N.-sponsored report drawing on about 3,000 scientific papers concludes that about 40 percent of invertebrate pollinator species (such as bees and butterflies) are facing extinction. Vertebrate pollinators (such as bats and birds) are somewhat better off by comparison — 16 percent are threatened with extinction, "with a trend towards more extinctions," the researchers say.

About 75 percent of the world's food crops, the report notes, depend at least partly on pollination. "Pollinators are important contributors to world food production and nutritional security," assessment co-Chair Vera Lucia Imperatriz-Fonseca says in a statement [ipbes.net]. "Their health is directly linked to our own well-being."

Crops that need help from pollinators include coffee, apples, cacao, cotton, mangoes and almonds, to name just a few. We're also talking big business: "The annual value of global crops directly affected by pollinators" ranges from $235 billion to $577 billion, according to the statement.

NPR's Dan Charles says the report "is largely based on studies in North America and Europe; there's been less research on pollinators in Africa and Asia." It was released by The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, which operates under U.N. auspices. The assessment cites about 3,000 scientific papers and, researchers say, "includes information about practices based on indigenous and local knowledge from more than 60 locations around the world." The report was presented by IPBES on Friday in Kuala Lumpur.

The report, "Thematic Assessment of Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production" will be available later this week [ceh.ac.uk].

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