The buzzing, fluttering, flying things of our childhood summers are disappearing. Scientists have tracked waning populations of pollinators across the world, from birds to bats to moths, that are vital to native ecosystems and agricultural production (and food security for everyone on the planet).

Even the once-plentiful monarch butterfly, the hearty long-distance migrator and staple of backyard barbecues, was placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s endangered species list in 2022—two steps away from extinction.

Perhaps most troubling is the stunning decline in wild bees, by far the most prolific pollinators of the insect world. The first study to map wild bees across the U.S., conducted by UVM researchers, found that wild bee populations plummeted by 23 percent between 2008 and 2013, especially in key U.S. agricultural areas.

Several overlapping factors contribute to this disturbing global trend, including habitat loss, disease, pesticide use, and climate change. The good news: scientists at UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment are leading internationally recognized research on bees and other pollinators and learning how to protect them.

Most of the food we eat, whether the plants themselves or the animals who eat those plants, is dependent on—or benefits from—pollinators. The fate of these tiny titans is inextricably intertwined with the fate of humankind.

“One of the biggest challenges we face in this century is how to feed ourselves—8 billion people and growing—without wrecking the ecosystems that support that food supply in the first place,” says Taylor Ricketts, Director of UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment and an international expert in wild pollinators. “Pollinators are enormously valuable to our society and to our food supplies, and we need to figure out how to keep them healthy in our landscapes.”

Pollinators improve yields for more than two-thirds of the world’s most important crops, including coffee, cacao, and many fruits and vegetables. UVM research estimates bees’ contributions to the global economy, their “unpaid labor,” in the billions of dollars annually. Further bee declines could mean higher agricultural production costs, increased consumer food prices, and an increased risk for malnutrition in many developing countries.

“What we’re aiming to do in a lot of our projects with collaborators around the world is to line up two things that aren’t typically aligned: economics and the conservation of nature. If we can find ways to advance both in the same landscapes, we have a chance of ensuring a sustainable food supply while also conserving biodiversity in the natural world,” says Ricketts.

One Gund Graduate Fellow, along with a team of researchers from four Latin American countries, has shown that pollinators affect the bottom line of both farmers and consumers of coffee. Natalia Aristizábal, a PhD candidate at UVM’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, partnered with 30 coffee farms in Costa Rica to study the impacts of wild species on coffee production. She is finding that coffee beans are bigger and more plentiful when bees and birds team up to pollinate coffee plants and protect them from pests. Aristizábal’s work is supported by the Apis Fund, established by an anonymous donor in 2018 to advance the study and conservation of bees.

The groundbreaking study found that coffee production yields would decrease by about 25 percent without the winged helpers. That’s important for the $26 billion coffee industry, but the research has even broader implications for food production across the globe.

“Birds, bees, and millions of other species support our lives and livelihoods,” says Aristizábal. “One important reason we measure these contributions is to help protect and conserve the many species that we depend on, and sometimes take for granted.”

Back in Vermont, Ricketts and a team of researchers are finding new ways to protect native pollinator species.

“There’s a lot of attention now about what we can do to help. A big piece of that is restoring pollinator habitats, along roads, on farms, or even in our yards,” he says.

The proliferation of solar fields in the U.S.—the Department of Energy estimates three million acres by the end of the decade—presents a unique opportunity for conservation work. Land beneath and surrounding solar arrays can be sowed with a mix of low-growing and shade-tolerant, pollinator-friendly vegetation. Ricketts’ team is working to define what constitutes pollinator-friendly solar in Vermont and adjust those guidelines for the state. They have also partnered with solar developers on a large-scale experiment to study the impacts of these plantings on bees and nearby crops.

“This idea makes so much sense to me,” he says. “This work is very compatible with solar installations, which are often located near agricultural lands, where these pollinators can actually make a difference. That’s why the Gund Institute has been working to drive this ahead. We have a chance to be at the leading edge of this growing national effort, and I’m really excited that it’s taking place in Vermont.”

Ricketts says homeowners can help, too, by taking simple steps in their own back yards: mowing less frequently, planting native wildflowers, and putting out “beeboxes” for wild native bees. “Let’s share the land. We all benefit—healthier ecosystems, healthier economies, healthier food—when we keep wild bees living where we live.”