I love bees.
I love butterflies.
I love them not just for their ineffable beauty but for all of the good work they do to sustain our food supply by helping our flowers and vegetables reproduce.
We take their constant support for granted, but we should not. Our pollinators – birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and other insects and small mammals – are in peril. They are threatened by loss of habitat, pesticides, disease and climate change.
Without the actions of pollinators, agricultural economies, our food supply, and surrounding landscapes would collapse.
Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and other small mammals that pollinate plants are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food. They also sustain our ecosystems and produce our natural resources by helping plants reproduce.
Pollinating animals travel from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies in a vital interaction that allows the transfer of genetic material critical to the reproductive system of most flowering plants – the very plants that
- bring us countless fruits, vegetables, and nuts,
- ½ of the world’s oils, fibers and raw materials;
- prevent soil erosion,
- and increase carbon sequestration
This nearly invisible ecosystem service is a precious resource that requires attention and support – – and in disturbing evidence found around the globe, is increasingly in jeopardy. Pollinator Partnership (P2) urges you know how this system supports you, and how your actions can help support healthy and sustainable pollination.”
There are many other opportunities to get involved with helping these small friends:
The League of Conservation Voters: https://www.lcv.org/article/skip-crowds-save-bees/
The Natural Resources Defense Council: https://www.nrdc.org/issues/protect-bees-and-butterflies
Learn more about them, our busy friends, who give us and the world around us so much more than the beauty-in-flight that they so graciously share with us!
