The Expert proposal for an EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EUPoMS), includes, among other aspects, a general methodology for monitoring pollinating insect populations (mainly bees, bumblebees, butterflies, and hoverflies) also considering the framework of the EU Common Agricultural Policy. Later, the European Commission promote, in collaboration with national authorities, on the fine-tuning and operationalisation of the proposal for the implementation of the EUPoMS i.e., the EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (Potts et al., 2020).

Among other actions, in June 2021, the Commission launched the SPRING (Strengthening Pollinator Recovery through Indicators and Monitoring) project, with the key purpose of supporting the preparation of the implementation of the EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme and testing the scheme on a pilot scale in all 27 EU countries (https://www.ufz.de/spring-pollination)

In this context, the Programme for the improvement of knowledge of pollinating insects has recently been launched in Spain. Therefore, the MITECO (Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge) is developing a project to improve the acquisition and reinforcement of knowledge of the state and trends of pollinating insect populations in Spain. This project is being developed within the framework of the National Strategy for the conservation of pollinators, adopted in September 2020, and follows with special interest the results of the development of the SPRING project in order to achieve the implementation of the Spanish EUPoMs in accordance with the rest of the EU countries.

This work presents the preliminary results of the project and the main challenges to be overcome, as well as different proposals for discussion in the context of monitoring syrphids as pollinators in Spain.

Reference:

Potts, S., et al. 2020., Proposal for an EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme, EUR 30416 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, ISBN 978-92-76-23859-1, doi:10.2760/881843, JRC122225.