EU targets to protect biodiversity on farmland fall way short of what’s needed, finds new research by Trinity’s Prof Jane Stout and colleagues.
As UN secretary general António Guterres put it: “Biodiversity is the bedrock of life and a cornerstone of sustainable development.”
Biodiversity is essential for all life on Earth. From clean water, air and soil to fresh food production – and the regulation of pests and diseases – diverse, healthy ecosystems underpin so many vital functions. For example, more than 75pc of global food crops rely on pollinators, while more than 50pc of modern medicines are derived from nature.
Yet, a 2024 report from the WWF found that there has been a 73pc decline in average population size of monitored wild species in the 50 years up to 2020. And scientists have raised warnings about the potential for a sixth global mass extinction event, with a million species estimated to be at risk.
The major causes of biodiversity loss are the climate crisis, deforestation and habitat fragmentation.
While there has been much focus on expanding protected areas – the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework set a global target to protect 30pc of the planet’s land, sea and inland waters by 2030 – it has been recognised that human-dominated landscapes must also contribute to biodiversity protection and restoration.
This is why the EU’s biodiversity strategy, alongside its 30pc target of land protection following the global goal, also includes a target to ensure 10pc of agricultural areas have “high-diversity landscape features”. Features such as trees, hedges, ponds, ditches and small stone walls can support biodiversity and provide ecosystem services including soil protection and pollination.
The disappearance of these landscape features has been a key pressure on biodiversity, according to the EU. As of 2024, Ireland leads the way in the EU for its share of woody landscape features in agricultural areas, with about 9pc coverage compared to the 5pc bloc average.
Buzz off and give bees more space
New research by Prof Jane Stout from Trinity College Dublin and others has looked at the quality of habitats in agricultural areas for certain wild pollinators across Europe to assess how much protected land, such as provided by the above-mentioned landscape features, is needed for these species to thrive.
By analysing 59 studies from 19 countries, the researchers found that the EU target of 10pc coverage is insufficient to protect these vital species. The team estimates that bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies and butterflies need between 16pc and 37pc of farmland coverage to remain healthy.
The researchers developed a framework to assess the relative benefits of improving habitat size and quality for the pollinators. Habit quality was defined by how many flowering plants were available in an area.
Unsurprisingly, for all species studied, the larger the areas of natural habitat available, the more pollinators there were. To achieve the same species numbers in smaller areas, “marked increases in quality are required”.
The study found that each pollinator had different requirements, with the butterfly in particular requiring more complex landscapes across larger areas to thrive. As such, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to protecting pollinators, but that reaching minimum coverage of 16-18pc for both bees and hoverflies can have significant impacts.
While temporary measures such as wildflower strips alongside crops can lead to temporary increases in pollinators, the study shows that much more habitat of a sustained high quality is needed for long-term biodiversity improvements.
The researchers also stressed the need for high-quality habitats in urban areas and other human-dominated landscapes to contribute to biodiversity restoration.
Stout, who is VP for biodiversity and climate action at Trinity, said that it is important to have objective targets to improve biodiversity. However, she cautioned that we shouldn’t just aim for the lowest tick-box target. “We should be going above and beyond.
“30pc of Irish bee species are at risk of extinction, which is around three times higher than the EU average (of 9pc), and we have a lower absolute number of species because of our geography, which probably means our ecosystems are less resilient to loss of species than ones that have more species to start with.”
Stout said that Ireland probably falls well short of the 16-37pc coverage that the research suggests is necessary for these common pollinators. However, she said there is plenty of potential for nature restoration in Ireland.
“There are some great examples of this already across Ireland so we know it can be done, but farmers must be supported financially and in terms of other resources, such as via access to information and advice. It’s not a case of stopping farming to protect land for nature, but farming in a way that allows nature to also thrive.”
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