Skip to main content

Pollination Security - Why It Matters

On Wed 11th Nov '26, via Zoom, members heard from Tracie Armstrong from Wheen Bee Foundation, a not-for-profit charity dedicated to protecting bees, supporting pollination research, and strengthening food security. It funds strategic research, raises public awareness, and connects industry, government, and community to address threats facing bees.

Tracie discussed Australia's reliance on insect pollinators for food production, biodiversity, and ecosystem health, highlighting findings from a recent Australian pollinator security assessment. Her key messages included;

  • Importance of pollinators because they support the yield, quality, and reliability of more than 65 horticultural crops in Australia,
  • Pollination contributes 4.6 billion dollars to the economy each year, and
  • Pollination is often overlooked because it is an "invisible service" until it begins to fail.

Tracie highlighted the Pollination Security Status Report which examines food production, biodiversity and ecosystems and social/cultural values. The report modelled future risks and the consequences of pollinator decline. Pollinators include managed honeybees, feral honeybees, native bees, butterflies, flies, wasps, beetles and other insects. The major threats to pollinators are habitat loss, land clearing, removal of flowering plants and nesting sites, climate change, droughts and bushfires, pests and diseases, inappropriate agricultural chemical use, and environmental changes causing timing mismatches between flowering plants and pollinators.

A major focus is the Varroa destructor mite because it attacks honeybee colonies. Overseas experience shows dramatic declines in feral honeybees after Varroa becomes established. Australia could experience around a 95% reduction in feral honeybee populations over time. Beekeepers face higher costs for monitoring, treatment, and hive management. Resistance to treatments is emerging internationally. Modelling suggests the risks to food production because significant losses of feral honeybees could create pollination shortages.

Crops such as almonds, avocados, blueberries and stone fruit could be affected. Pollination shortages are increasingly viewed as a food security issue. There are also biodiversity and cultural impacts because many native plants depend on specific pollinators. Pollinator decline can lead to ecosystem degradation and increased extinction risk for some species. Pollinators are important within Indigenous ecological knowledge and connections to Country. Loss of pollinators can affect cultural values and community wellbeing. Sadly, at the current time Australia lacks comprehensive monitoring data. For many native pollinators, scientists do not know whether populations are increasing or declining. Better monitoring and citizen science programs are needed.

A new national Australian Pollinator Strategy is being developed and is intended to guide action over approximately 10 years. Tracie praised local community and Rotary projects that plant native pollinator-friendly vegetation, that build bee and insect hotels, that support schools and community education and who help increase pollinator habitat and awareness. The presentation concluded that protecting pollinators is essential not only for food production but also for biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, culture, and community wellbeing. Community groups, schools, governments, landholders, and industry all have a role to play.