Pollinators for food security

To bridge the science-policy interface across its member nations, United Nations agreed to assess global Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services at its General Assembly in December 2010. This led to the formation of an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES; www.ipbes.net ) with secretariat in Bonn, Germany.

IPBES is now conducting global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services similar to more widely recognised Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The assessment is about the benefits that Earth’s ecosystems provide to human beings. These benefits are widely known as ecosystem services that include pollination, nutrient cycling, freshwater supply, climate regulation and cultural and spiritual benefits.

Currently scientists across the globe are working to produce assessment of pollinators and pollination services that they provide to global agriculture (see details on the web). Pollination assessment, as a first IPBES report, later in 2015, will capture contribution of pollinators to food production.

The concept of ‘ecosystem services’ is recognised by the UN since the completion of previous global study Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2005 (www.maweb.org ).

IPBES assessments builds on this work that provided linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being. It aims to strengthen relationships between the scientific community,governments, private sector and the community at large.

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