- Europe's wild bees and butterflies are facing an escalating extinction crisis, according to a new conservation assessment.
- The latest IUCN Red List now classifies one in ten wild bee species (172 out of 1,928) as threatened, a sharp rise from 77 species in 2014, with more than 20 per cent of bumblebee and cellophane bee species at risk.
- Similarly, 15 per cent of Europe's butterfly species (65 out of 442) are facing extinction, up from 37 in 2010, and the Madeiran large white butterfly is now officially extinct.
- The primary threats to these vital pollinators include habitat loss from intensive agriculture, pesticide use, nitrogen fertilisers, and the impacts of climate change such as prolonged hot weather, droughts, and wildfires.
- Conservation experts and the European Commission are calling for urgent and collective action, including improved habitat management and wildfire prevention, to reverse the decline of these insects crucial for food systems and ecosystems.
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