Where trees meet bees: Agroforestry for pollinators webinar

Pollinators on the Brink

Wild pollinators across Europe, including bees, butterflies, and hoverflies, have declined sharply in recent decades due to habitat loss, intensive agriculture, pesticides, and climate change. New IUCN Red List assessments from October 2025 revealed that nearly 10% of Europe's wild bees—172 out of 1,928 assessed species—are now at risk of extinction, with bumblebees and other groups seeing over 20% threatened status. Butterfly species classified as threatened jumped 76% in the past decade.

The stakes escalated with the EU Nature Restoration Regulation entering force in August 2024, setting a legally binding target for Member States to reverse pollinator declines by 2030 and then achieve measurable increases, assessed every six years. To enforce this, the European Commission adopted the EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EU-PoMS) in November 2025, requiring standardised, coordinated tracking across all countries by December 2026. This builds on the revised EU Pollinators Initiative from 2023, which frames pollinator recovery as central to the Biodiversity Strategy and food security.

Pollinators underpin roughly 35% of global food crops and contribute hundreds of billions in economic value annually; in Europe, their loss threatens yields of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. A 2025 Nature Communications study modelled an 8% drop in crop output from a wild pollinator collapse by 2030, with cascading effects on trade, prices, and nutrition. Farmers face immediate pressure as managed honey bee losses mount elsewhere, amplifying reliance on wild species.

Agroforestry—integrating trees and shrubs into farmland—emerges as a key response, providing continuous floral resources, nesting sites, and microclimate buffers that can double pollinator numbers and enhance yields in pollinator-dependent crops. Recent reviews highlight 2-4 times higher bee abundance and seed set compared to monocultures, alongside biodiversity gains up to 50%. Yet tensions persist: upfront investment and delayed payoffs deter smallholders, while poor design risks pest issues or limited benefits in certain landscapes. Policy incentives and training remain critical to scale adoption amid the 2030 deadline.

Broader fallout includes shifts in plant communities from reduced pollination, compounding biodiversity loss. The push for agroforestry thus balances ecological restoration with agricultural resilience, but success hinges on overcoming economic and practical barriers before irreversible thresholds are crossed.