We collaborate with Julia Osterman and other colleagues to study how farmers value pollinators in different crops around the world. From more than 500 interviews across 11 countries, we found that bees (managed honeybees and bumblebees, and wild bees) are the most valued pollinators. Anyway, many farmers appreciate the additional role of non-bee pollinators in their crops. The perception of farmers of the importance of the different pollinator types is proportional to the actual abundance of each type in crops, this estimated from scientific surveys. Interestingly, the deeper the ecological knowledge among farmers, the stronger is their willingness to adopt measures for promoting pollinator biodiversity such as wildflower strips or hedgerows around their crops. This encourages us to keep on divulgation actions!! Read the open-access paper in Global Ecology and Conservation!
