FAO Media Advisory
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World Bee Day, 20 May 2021 - Bee Engaged: Build Back Better for Bees


Virtual celebration
on the importance of bees and other pollinators for ecosystems, food security, nutrition and livelihoods

 

On the occasion of the fourth observance of World Bee Day, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is organizing an online event on 20 May 2021 under the theme Bee engaged – Build Back Better for Bees.

 

The high-level gathering will be formally opened by the FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and will focus on the important role that bees and other pollinators play in delivering ecosystems services, food security, nutrition and livelihoods.

 

Speakers will call for global cooperation and solidarity to counter the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to food security and agricultural livelihoods alongside prioritizing environmental regeneration and pollinator protection. It will be an occasion to raise awareness of how everyone can make a difference to support, restore and enhance the role of pollinators – and consequently, the millions of livelihoods they, in turn, support.


Three out of four food crop types across the globe depend on pollinators to some degree. However, today bees, pollinators and many other insects are declining in abundance. At the same time, the global food economy is showing striking increases in demand for pollination services, especially in developing countries. 

What:           World Bee Day - virtual celebration


When:          Thursday, 20 May 2020,
                     13:00-14:45 (Rome time)

 

Who:           QU Dongyu, Director-General, FAO
                     Jože Podgoršek, Minister for Agriculture,
                     Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia
                     Julia Klöckner, Federal Minister for Food and
                     Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Germany
                     Zagdjav Mendsaikhan, Minister for Food, 
                     Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia
                     Dr Taïga, Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and
                     Animal Industries of the Republic of Cameroon
                     David Cooper, Deputy Executive Secretary,
                     United Nations Convention on Biological
                     Diversity

Where:        Zoom or Webcast

 

The interventions will be followed by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and Apimondia (the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations). 

 

A wide-ranging technical discussion will follow involving addresses given by

     Olivier Badibanga, Managing Director of API-CONGO of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

     Jane Stout, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin

     Meriem Hammal, a beekeeper from Algeria

     Lucas Garibaldi, Director, Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural, Argentina

     Phrang Roy, Coordinator, Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty, and Founding Chairman, North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society, India.

 

There will be a special update on the World Bee Count and AI-Driven Climate-Smart Beekeeping by Max Rünzel, HiveTracks CEO and World Bee Count Project Coordinator, USA.

 

A question-and-answer session will follow (journalists are invited to participate) and Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General, will close the formal observance.

 


RESOURCES
World Bee Day

 

Live Zoom/Webcast
13.00-14.45 CEST, 20 May

Agenda
Zoom    
Webcast
Social Media Assets
Get Involved Guide

Join the conversation on Twitter
#WorldBeeDay
#Savethebees

 

World Bee Day events are planned across the globe – with special FAO events taking place in Washington and New York.

 

For further information:

FAO Media Relations
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(+39) 06 570 53625

  

 

Journalists & editors:

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