Cabildo creates a citizen science program to raise awareness of the importance of pollinators
This Saturday, on the occasion of World Bee Day, Cabildo held a practical workshop on observing wild bees in Montaña de Juco, a point of great diversity of pollinators, located at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level.
he Council of Tenerifethrough an area Sustainable development and combating climate changeCitizen Science Program was launched to bring knowledge pollinators through a participatory approach. The aim is to educate the public on the importance of these small animals in the functioning of ecosystems and in food production.
Under this program and on the occasion World Bee DayCabildo, in association with La Laguna UniversityOn Saturday, a hands-on workshop for observing wild bees in Montaña de Juco, a point of great diversity of pollinators within the island’s jungle crown, at an altitude of approximately 2,000 metres.
Los 30 participants budieron aprender a identificar algunas de las especies de abejas que habitan en la isla, descubrieron múltiples aspectos sobre la biology y la ecología de estas especies, y fueron instruidos en la metodología para la observacion y el estudio de las abejas y los polynizadores in general.
In the coming months, new workshops will be developed to learn how to identify day butterflies, wild bees and servids, to create butterfly gardens and shelter plants for pollinators, landscape photography, scientific drawing or to learn how to systematically collect data, among others.
This new citizen science project is part of Tenerife Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 2020-2030 It aims to raise awareness among citizens about the importance of pollinators in preserving ecosystems, and to raise awareness about the threats they face.
World Bee Day
In October 2017, the United Nations General Assembly declared May 20 as World Bee Day, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Anton Janša, the pioneer of modern beekeeping in his country of origin (Slovenia) in the eighteenth century.
Although most of the population knows only about the honey bee (Apis mellifera), a species domesticated by humans, the truth is that there are more than 20,000 different species of wild bees in the world, covering a wide variety of bee shapes, sizes, colors and styles. life.
In fact, in the Canary Islands, about 130 species of bees have been recorded and more than a third of them are endemic to the archipelago.
It should be noted that 90% of wild and agricultural species depend on animal pollination, which means more than 2,400 million euros for the Spanish economy.
