Switzerland/Environment: Beekeeping organizations want to enshrine pollinator protection in the Constitution

Organizations launch an initiative to enshrine the protection of bees and pollinators in the Constitution. They consider current measures to be insufficient in the face of their alarming decline.

Beekeeping and environmental organizations want to enshrine the preservation of bees and other pollinating insects in the Constitution. They consider current measures to be insufficient in the face of the decline of these essential species.

BienenSchweiz, the Société Romande d'Apiculture, the Federazione Ticinese di Apicoltura, the Future 3.0 Foundation and Swiss Naturefriends announce the launch of a popular initiative in a press release published on Sunday. The collection of signatures is due to start on World Bees Day, May 20. The text, currently being examined by the Federal Chancellery, aims to anchor a pollination guarantee objective in the Constitution.

According to the initiators, almost half of the 600 or so species of wild bee in Switzerland are threatened, and 59 are already extinct. Insect biomass has fallen by more than three-quarters in three decades. Yet some 84% of agricultural crops in Europe depend on insect pollination. In Switzerland, the economic value of this contribution is estimated at up to CHF 479 million a year.

The initiative does not set out any specific requirements, but does mandate the Confederation and cantons to ensure the pollination of cultivated and wild plants, and to promote pollinator diversity. The organizations believe that, despite several parliamentary interventions in recent years, federal measures remain insufficient. They intend to form a broad alliance and will not be using commercial signature collectors.

Source: www.lenouvelliste.ch/