May 20 – World Bee Day

The LIFE PolliNetwork Project celebrates the silent workers of our agri-food system.
On World Bee Day, we must remember the irreplaceable role of these pollinators and how a European project, together with all its partners, is working concretely to save them.

Without pollinators, a third of the food we put on our tables would not exist.
Pollination, supported by wild bees, butterflies, hoverflies, and other insects, is the ecosystem service that ensures the reproduction of over 85% of the planet’s plants.* Yet, in recent decades, populations of these insects have declined alarmingly.

Habitat fragmentation and pesticide use are among the main causes of this decline.
Green spaces are reduced to isolated areas, and pollinators are no longer able to move, feed, and reproduce. This is where LIFE PolliNetwork comes in, a project co-financed by the European Union under the LIFE program, together with the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and the Cariplo Foundation, which aims to restore habitats and create functional ecological networks for pollinators on a national scale.

Connecting to protect biodiversity

The heart of LIFE PolliNetwork is habitat restoration and the creation of ecological transit areas for pollinators. These include paths along the edges of fields, hedges, flowerbeds, and meadows along major infrastructure, roads, and railways that allow pollinators to move between natural areas. The project envisions the planning of landscape-scale nature restoration interventions involving farmers, local authorities, managers of protected natural areas and networks of highways, transmission grids, power stations, and railways. Ultimately, the true protagonists at the heart of the project will be the citizens involved in pollinator monitoring activities.

Thanks to collaboration between scientific and institutional partners, LIFE PolliNetwork implements concrete interventions in the area: sowing native nectar-producing and pollen-producing species, creating nesting sites for solitary bees, monitoring populations, and training farmers and local communities.

May 20th, a symbolic date

World Bee Day, established by the UN in 2017 at the suggestion of Slovenia and celebrated annually on May 20, is the birthday of modern beekeeping pioneer Anton Janša. Today, it is dedicated to all pollinators. It is an opportunity to remember that their protection is not just an environmental issue, but also an economic, nutritional, and cultural one.

For LIFE PolliNetwork, this date also marks a moment of sharing and participation for all citizens. Citizen science activities, nature excursions, and school engagement sessions are being organised locally, particularly in WWF Italy’s OASES, to educate the community about the world of pollinators and the value of biodiversity.

What do our experts say?

Everyone’s commitment is needed to “undertake concrete actions to protect and conserve honeybees (Apis mellifera) and all pollinators.” – Antonio Felicioli, Associate Professor at the University of Pisa – “In Italy, in addition to honeybees, there are approximately 1,040 different bee species, all grouped together in the superfamily Apoidea. All bees are efficient pollinators of both agricultural and forestry plants, as well as wild plants, and the multiplicity of interactions that can be established between bees and plants is impressive.”
They pollinate approximately 75% of the world’s agricultural crops** and support entire ecosystems. Without bees, the global food system collapses.

What can you do?

Every little action counts! Start following us and stay informed about the important work our pollinator friends do for us. Come visit us at one of our project’s events nationwide in the coming months.
Follow LIFE PolliNetwork‘s activities to find out how you can participate in field monitoring with our experts!

*Source: https://www.fao.org/pollination/about/en **Source: https://www.fao.org/plant-production-protection/news-and-events/news/news-detail/world-bee-day-2025–protect-the-pollinators-who-protect-us/en