RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes based on multi-actor participatory approaches

Project Information

RestPoll

Grant agreement ID: 101082102

DOI

10.3030/101082102

EC signature date 18 April 2023

Start date 1 October 2023

End date 30 September 2027

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 7 187 045,70

EU contribution

€ 7 118 101,67

Coordinated by

ALBERT-LUDWIGS-UNIVERSITAET FREIBURG
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RestPoll (RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes based on multi-actor participatory approaches)

Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2025-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

To reverse wild pollinator declines, habitats across Europe need to be restored. The EU-funded RestPoll project aims to provide tools that will restore pollinator populations in agricultural landscapes. Experts from various fields, including natural and social scientists, non-governmental organisations, businesses and ministries, are working together with stakeholders from individual land managers to governments to co-design, evaluate and refine measures for pollinator restoration. Central to RestPoll is the establishment and co-development of a Europe-wide network of pollinator restoration case study areas (CSA) and Living Labs (LL), which are unique hubs for experimentation, demonstration, and mutual learning for the best practice of pollinator restoration measures in Europe. Other objectives of the project are to validate context-dependence and synergistic effects of multiple restoration measures at different scales and to demonstrate how to improve benefits and co-benefits of pollinator restoration for nature and people. All this helps to support the development of pollinator-friendly policies and market conditions. Through testing co-designed, transferable tools for adaptive pollinator restoration, we will be able to engage users at local, national and European levels and reinforce the status of Europe as a global leader in adaptive management. RestPoll continuously provides open access to the existing and newly generated data, traditional and expert knowledge and tools to enable researchers and stakeholders across different scales to compare the benefits of initiatives and to priorities restoration measures and promote pollinator diversity.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

RestPoll has established a network of 17 Living Labs (LLs) with case study areas (CSAs) in 14 European countries. Pollinator and vegetation monitoring was conducted in 13 of the CSAs in summer 2024 to evaluate the success of restoration. All sites will be monitored in the following summers. Similarly, 13 of the LLs hosted the launch of or coordination of the LLs within the RestPoll project. Likewise, the LLs will host annual meetings with the local stakeholders, to evaluate and monitor the success of the implementation of co-designed measures. Several surveys and questionnaires were piloted at one LL or CSA in summer 2024, including the questionnaire for evaluating the perception and representation of stakeholders towards pollinators’ services, the collection of the bio-physical and socio-economic data within the different RestPoll CSAs and their LL boundaries, and the survey of the consumer’s willingness to purchase pollinator-friendly products. Supplementary questionnaires, surveys and data collection will be conducted in LLs and CSAs in summer 2025. Additionally in 2024, 5 LL and CSAs were visited and evaluated for a horizon scanning regarding strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for regional pollinator restoration actions. The remaining LLs and CSAs will be evaluated in 2025.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In RestPoll, there are seven (7) expected results and impacts beyond the state of the art. They are:
1) Multiple restoration measures for green recovery connected in a European network of case study areas with well-established Living Labs (LLs): We have established a network of 17 case study areas (CSA)and LLs across 14 countries in Europe. All (except one which will be used as a control) CSAs and LLs have implemented co-designed measures for pollinator restoration.
2) A better understanding of drivers of pollinator declines in regions across Europe: We are addressing this with monitoring of the pollinator communities and vegetation surveys in the CSAs as part of our LLs. This information is the basis for several other ongoing and coming tasks within the project.
3) Examples of how pollinator diversity & pollination services are successfully integrated at all levels of public and business decision-making: We address this by understanding the drivers behind consumer behaviour, the non-economic value that is attributed to pollination services and evaluating the perception towards pollinators. This information will help us assess the impact of wild pollinators within the food value chain, so we can explore how their contribution can be recognized and integrated into agricultural business models.
4) Communication of evidence-based understanding of interrelations between biodiversity & ecosystem services to citizens & policymakers at regional to global scales: We are addressing this by assessing the direct and indirect impacts of restoration measures on the bio-economy. Additionally, we have assessed the existing policies at international level, to accelerate a system-wide transformation towards pollinator-friendly agricultural landscapes in Europe.
5) Land-use managers across Europe acknowledge and integrate pollinator diversity and multiple ecosystem services by using our toolbox: Practices in agriculture will support biodiversity and the provision of other ecosystems services by using tools developed or integrated in RestPoll.
6) Fully integrated RestPoll toolbox addressing all drivers of pollinator loss and enabling transformative changes at policy and society levels: We are addressing approaches for enabling transformation change through active communication of restoration measures and tools to politicians and society.
7) Communication strategy among European research projects: Biodiversity research is interconnected and there are several past and present projects that are also focused on pollinators and pollinations. Therefore, we have built a network of interrelated projects and will collaborate to reach similar goals.

Example of RestPoll data collection in an vineyard in Catalonia, Spain.

RestPoll members at the first Annual Group Meeting in Freiburg, Germany.

Example of a RestPoll LL activity at Bükk National Park's annual meeting with farmers & stakeholders

The seven main objectives of the RestPoll project.