Scientists at the University of Leeds have been awarded nearly £1.5m to explore the causes and consequences of threats to bees and other pollinating insects in the UK.
Scientists at the University of Leeds have been awarded nearly £1.5m to explore the causes and consequences of threats to bees and other pollinating insects in the UK. The Leeds research is part of the Insect Pollinators Initiative, which aims to ensure that the pollination of agricultural and horticultural crops in the UK is protected and biodiversity in natural ecosystems is maintained. Of the eight initiative projects announced today, two are led by University of Leeds scientists and a third includes Leeds as a partner, confirming the institution's position as a leading centre in UK pollination research. Improving our understanding of the decline of populations of bees and other insect pollinators - and what can be done to halt it - is critical because of the potential threat to agriculturally-produced food supplies and wider damage to the environment. Insects pollinate around two-thirds of the agricultural crops grown globally and the total loss of insect pollinators could cost up to £440m per year in the UK - about 13% of the UK's income from farming. Funding worth almost £10m in total has been announced as part of the Insect Pollinators Initiative, which is a collaboration between the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Natural Environment Research Council, The Scottish Government and the Wellcome Trust, and is funded under the auspices of the Living With Environmental Change partnership.
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