Bee conservation in protected areas – for biodiversity and people

The ongoing biodiversity decline of insect pollinators threatens ecosystem functioning.

Yet, pollinators are often neglected in conservation efforts and the role of protected areas to preserve pollinators is unclear. To reverse pollinator decline, conservation efforts must be effective, sustainable and include relevant stakeholders.

Wild bees and honey bees are both crucial pollinators of wild plants and crops, but concerns are raised that managed honey bees can impoverish wild bee populations.

However, the concerns can counteract conservation efforts as they fuel tensions between conservationists and beekeepers and miss the opportunity for a united voice for bee conservation.The overall goal of my project is to investigate the role of protected areas for wild bee conservation and identify management and communication efforts to benefit bee diversity.

Specifically, I will (1), identify bee community structure (e.g. richness, diversity) of protected areas in relation to their management and to non-protected areas (2) quantify the degree of honey bee – wild bee competition and (3) evaluate existing communication efforts and investigate how social learning can reduce barriers for bee conservation.

The project will be co-designed with stakeholders and integrate their needs to enable a sustainable framework.

The formulation of a roadmap for bee conservation in protected areas, designed jointly with stakeholders, will be a crucial step toward a paradigm shift in bee conservation.