The pollinator crisis and the role of entomologists: editorial

Pollinator decline, and more broadly insect decline, has become a pressing societal challenge. Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, from the RECIPES Consortium, together with Stéphane Foucart and Jérôme Casas just published the editorial in the Insect Science journal: Halting the pollinator crisis requires entomologists to step up and assume their societal responsibilities.

The decline of bees and other pollinators continues at a high pace, and time for action is running out. Entomologists need to work with and for insects, in a much more complex settings but in a more positive and nurturing attitude. They need to step up to increase the policy relevance of their research, to help adequately diagnose the problem, and to help develop timely structural solutions and policy options. Breakthroughs such as the ban of an entire class of proven harmful pesticides implied in pollinator decline became only possible following deep engagement of scientists with all stakeholders and entomologists assuming their societal responsibilities. This needs to become the norm, not the exception.

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs is professor at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen, Norway. Within the RECIPES project, he conducted the case study on "Neonicotinoid insecticides", which outlines scientific uncertainties and ambiguities regarding the effects of neonics on pollinators.

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.