White House Announces New Steps to Promote Pollinator Health

On Tuesday, May 19 the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released the "National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and other Pollinators."  Nearly a year in the making, the 58-page Strategy was developed by an interagency taskforce and contains three overarching goals:

  • Reduce honey bee colony losses during winter to no more than 15% within 10 years ("economically sustainable levels");
  • Increase the eastern monarch butterfly population to 225 million butterflies occupying an area of approximately 15 acres (6 hectares) in the overwintering grounds in Mexico by 2020 (up from 2.79 acres in 2014);
  • Restore or enhance 7 million of acres of land for pollinators over the next 5 years through combined public and private action.

You can read the announcement at the White House website.

The entire Strategy is online at www WhiteHouse.gov.

The Strategy includes a science-based Pollinator Research Action Plan and a set of Pollinator-Friendly Best Management Practices for Federal Lands to guide planners and managers with land stewardship responsibilities.

 

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