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- Ελληνικά
Today marks the inauguration of the first organised apiary park to be established on state forest land. Congratulations are due to all those who cooperated for this purpose, the Forestry Department, the Cyprus Forestry Association and Cyta.
The Office of the Environment Commissioner will continue on this path with further actions for the protection of bees as well as for raising awareness and informing citizens about the essential role that bees play on the planet. Already the Office is participating in the biennial information campaign for the protection of bees conducted by the Institute of Professional Studies of UCLan Cyprus University. At the same time, other actions are planned such as synergies with public and private bodies, collaborations with the academic and research sector and with Civil Society, for the development of sustainable agricultural practices, habitat restoration projects and biodiversity promotion.
The existence of bees is identified with life on the planet and bees have always been prominent in myths, folklore and religious texts as symbols of fertility, industriousness and harmony with nature. Aristotle states in many of his treatises that nature does nothing without a reason and without a purpose ('Uthen gar, als φαμέν, μάτην η φύσις ποιει'), all natural processes have a purpose.
With over 15 million years of presence on earth, these silent, tireless workers ensure the reproduction of most wild/native flowering plants and most cultivated species, and are among the most important regulators of forest and agricultural ecosystems.
However, pollinators are increasingly threatened. The greatest threat of bee population decline comes from human activities such as land use change, intensive agricultural and livestock management, habitat loss, pesticide use, genetically modified monocultures, which in combination with climate change, air and electromagnetic pollution, invasive alien species, catastrophic fires are responsible for pollinator declines.
1/3 of food production (fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts), 80% of cultivated and native plants, 90% of the world's food supply, depends on bees and other pollinators. And if the numbers are not easily understood for what they imply, with the extinction of bees and other pollinators, there will be no more apples, strawberries, cherries, watermelons, vegetables, grains, nuts, honey...
Without bees there is no pollination, without pollination agriculture, food production is affected, soil quality is degraded with economic consequences for farmers, the economy, society, the whole ecosystem is affected, humanity is affected.
Particularly with regard to bees in Europe, most of the threatened species are endemic, 20.4% (400 species). This further highlights our responsibility to protect them.
At EU level, the need to ensure the sustainability of food systems is recognised, which is why the protection of bees and other pollinators is included in the European Green Deal. Other European initiatives and actions to this end include the Farm to Plate strategies, the Biodiversity Strategy, legislation on nature restoration and the rational use of pesticides. Based on these, policies and initiatives are also implemented in Cyprus through the implementation of the relevant legislation.
A key pillar of the policy and action of the Environment Commissioner's Office is the promotion of sustainable development and horizontal cooperation in the policies of the state and society through awareness-raising activities. It is for this reason that we encourage and embrace such initiatives as a contribution to the protection of biodiversity, which also falls within the specific objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy on climate and environment, including the enhancement of ecosystems and the conservation of habitats and landscapes.
And it is with satisfaction that we note that in recent years the importance of protecting bee populations in urban environments as well, offering them the necessary shelter in rooftops, has been recognised,
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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