PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Over 40% of invertebrate pollinators are at risk of extinction, mostly bees and butterflies. Loss of pollinating insects is particularly alarming because of the effects on plant reproduction. Nearly four out of five crops and wild plants depend on animal pollination, often provided by wild, unmanaged pollinator communities. Pollinator decline is thus expected to limit plant reproduction, ultimately affecting both natural ecosystems and crop production, threatening food security for humans and wildlife as well as global economic stability. Pollinator populations are negatively affected by the increasing use of agrochemicals, parasites and diseases, local and global environmental degradation and by the loss of natural and semi-natural habitats. The destruction and fragmentation of these habitats and the consequent reduction in wildflowers cause the loss of nectar and pollen as well as breeding, nesting and overwintering habitats for pollinators, triggering population declines and subdivision. Insect visitation, richness and stability increase with decreasing distance from natural or semi-natural habitats. Thus, the improvement and restoration of diverse habitats can enrich the diversity of the landscape and create a network of heterogeneous habitats with direct influences on the richness and abundance of insect populations.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of LIFE PollinAction is to mitigate this pollination crisis by creating a green infrastructure (GI) network, made up of natural and semi-natural areas, in rural and urban landscapes in North-East Italy. This will involve habitat restoration and the implementation of nature-based solutions. The project is mainly aimed at converting arable crops and rural or urban marginal areas into key habitats for pollinators. To reach this objective, it will improve species-poor grasslands and landscape heterogeneity by creating connectivity among rural and urban areas as well as along road infrastructure and riverbanks.
In order to achieve long-term sustainability and embed the GI approach within policy and practice, LIFE PollinAction will assess the ecosystem conditions and services and will implement payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes. The definition of an urban planning of compensation measures at local scale will be also considered as well as the design of circular economy processes and close-to-market solutions to boost farmer competitiveness.
The project will be replicated in a marginalised and abandoned area in the Aragon region of Spain. This will allow the effectiveness of GI to be evaluated in two areas with opposite dynamics (i.e. specialisation/intensification vs. marginalisation/abandonment).
LIFE PollinAction will contribute to the EUs green infrastructure strategy and the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy (targets 1, 2 and 3). In addition, the project will help implement the Spanish national action plan for pollinator conservation, while the autonomous community of Aragon is also considering a pollinator conservation plan.
RESULTS
Expected results include: