Conservation of pollinator diversity for enhanced climate change resilience

Bees, wasps, flies, beetles and butterflies are important pollinators of wild and cultivated plants – and the role they play in nature has a huge ecological and economic impact. The project contributes to the conservation of pollinator diversity in Morocco and four other countries, and develops a global product commitment in the form of product quality and pollinator-friendly production. It introduces the economically self-supporting approach of “agriculture with wild pollinators”. The approach measures the income gain (et alia) that can be achieved by improving the living conditions for pollinators – and this also serves as an incentive for farmers and policy designers to protect these insects. The project is establishing the first pollinator inventory for the Western Asia and North Africa region, and training project partners to establish even smaller projects in their own countries. Cross-sectoral pollinator protection is to be achieved through national, political round tables.

Project data

Countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Palestinian National Authority, Türkiye
IKI funding: 6,583,079.00 €
Duration: 06/2017 till 11/2023
Status: completed
Implementing organisation: International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
Political Partner: Agricultural Research Center/Horticultural Research Institute (HRI)

Institute of Agricultural Research and Higher Education (IRESA) - Tunesia

National Agriculture Research Center (NARC) - Palestine

National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE) - Jordan

National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA) - Algeria

National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA) - Morocco

The Plant Protection Central Research Institute - Turkey
Implementing Partner: Agricultural Research Center/Horticultural Research Institute (HRI)

Institute of Agricultural Research and Higher Education (IRESA) - Tunesia

National Agriculture Research Center (NARC) - Palestine

National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE) - Jordan

National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA) - Algeria

The Plant Protection Central Research Institute - Turkey
Online: https://mel.cgiar.org/projects/iki-pollinators

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State of implementation/results

The article "Four new species of Belomicrus A. COS-TA, 1867 (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae) from Morocco and Southern Spain" was published (Schmid-Egger 2021: Linzer biol. Beitr., www.zobodat.at/…). Two species were named after IKI project staff: Belomicrus rasmonti and Belomicrus christmani.
An article titled "Comparative ecology of two sympatric specialist bees: Dasypoda visnaga and Dasypoda maura" was published (El Abdouni et al. 2021: Journal of Hymenoptera, jhr.pensoft.net/…).
Another article titled "The wild bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Morocco" was published (Lhomme et al. 2020: Zootaxa, doi.org/…)
A 52-minute film "Gain better yield by protecting pollinators" was published. The film is available in English with Russian (youtu.be/…) and Tajik (youtu.be/…) subtitles. Both language versions contain a statement at the beginning by Neimatullo Safarov (Head of the National Biodiversity and Biosafety Centre of the Committee for Environmental Protection; Tajik focal point for the Convention on Biological Diversity). Previously, the film was published in English (youtu.be/…) and Arabic (youtu.be/…).
An article titled "Pollinator protection strategies must be feasible for all nations" was published (Christmann 2020: Nature Ecology & Evolution, rdcu.be/…).
The article "Climate change enforces to look beyond the plant – the example of pollinators" was published (Christmann 2019: Current Opinion in Plant Biology, doi.org/…).
A final workshop took place in Rabat on September 5, 2023, with the participation of five teams.