Malik says PM’s honey beekeeping programme to help boost employments

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said that while honeybees play an unprecedented role towards achieving food security, environmental protection and balancing the nature, human-caused rapidly shifting and erratic weather patterns pose a grave risk to their very survival.

With many wild bee species only able to survive in specific temperature ranges, global warming has placed today the global bee population in peril, he explained while addressing as a keynote speaker at the launching ceremony of the Prime Minister's National Apiculture Programme under the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme (TBTTP) held here on Tuesday.

Spelling out about the drivers of the bee losses, he said that climate change leads to some flowers to bloom earlier or later than usual, leaving bees with fewer food sources at the onset of the seasons. Bees suffer habitat loss from development, abandoned farms and the dearth of bee-friendly flowers. Some colonies collapse due to plants and seeds treated with neonicotinoid pesticides, or harmful parasites like mites, Malik Amin added.

“But, while bees are our most important pollinators, unfortunately the creatures populations are in decline,” he aggrieved. The decline of these pollinators is also linked with land-use change, spread of disease and agrochemical use," he pointed out, referring to other environmental threats to bee populations in addition to global warming.

To stave off this decline, Aslam suggested that controlling the use of chemicals in agriculture, adoption of sustainable land use methods, environmental conservation, boosting forest cover and mitigating climate altering carbon emissions can significantly improve pollinator resilience and help fight population losses for achieving the overall food security and restoring the nature’s balance.

"Conservation efforts need to address declines in all pollinators in terms of developing landscapes to support pollinator communities, not just honeybees," he suggested.

Nevertheless, there is pressing need for an over-arching, viable attempt to ameliorate pollinator decline through agri-environment schemes, using crop diversification, protection of natural habitat and establishing ecological focus areas such as wildflower strips," the PM’s aide emphasised.

Highlighting the role of bees in the nature, Malik said that bees earn their reputation as busy workers by pollinating billions of plants each year, including millions of agricultural crops. “Thus, pollinators like bees play a key role in one out of every three bites of food we eat. Without them, many plants we rely on for food would die off,” he stressed.

It’s not just farm-grown fruits and vegetables that depend on the bee pollinators to thrive. Many species of wild plants depend on insect pollinators as well. Bees are also responsible for the production of many seeds, nuts, berries, and fruit, which serve as a vital food source for wild animals, he explained.

Talking about role of the bees in forest growths, Malik Amin told the participants that bees are known for their elaborate hives, but they also help build homes for millions of other insects and animals.

Their role as pollinators is vital in the growth of tropical forests, savannah woodlands, and temperate deciduous forests. Several tree species, like willows and poplars, couldn’t grow without pollinators like bees, the PM’s aided added.

Quoting various studies, Aslam told the event participants that it requires more than soil, water and sunshine to make the world green and sustainable.

At least 30 percent of the world’s crops and 90 percent of all plants need cross-pollination to spread and thrive and feed the global populations.

But, the good news is that there are ways gardeners can aid bee populations bounce back, he said

“Planting a bee-friendly garden will not only help lead to healthy and vibrant plants, it will also ensure that bees keep on playing their vital role in and for our ecosystem sustainability.” Amin suggested.

He urged all stakeholders to join hands for collaborative measures to deal with challenges that post threats to the lives of the bees, failing to which would only lead to declines in food productions, rise in food insecurity, hunger, malnutrition and poverty levels.

Meanwhile, explaining about pivotal goals of the national apiculture programme, the prime minister’s aide told the participants of the event that the ambitious initiative aims to boost honey beekeeping in a more natural way as an alternative source of livelihood for poor and marginalized households and additional income source for farmers, sustainable environmental conservation and enhanced food security.

Plantation under TBTTP will help strengthen the entire beekeeping sector in the country not only by producing best export quality honey, but also boost the production of many valuable products like royal jelly, bee pollen, and bees venom, he said further.,

Amin said that the initiative would also provide opportunities for the young people to adopt modern beekeeping after getting training from the relevant government institutes, support in getting interest-free loans from money lending banks and extend support to the potential beekeepers regarding honey testing facilities from the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) and proper buy-back arrangements.

“Ideally, under the apiculture programme, more than 80,000 local green jobs would be generated through Billion Tree Honey product to be produced as a result of the programme,” he concluded.