The story of the birds and the bees has been problematic for many presidents — FDR and Bill Clinton told lived it over and over. But the current White House treats the birds and bees and other pollinators much less as a euphemism — and more like the acute problem they’ve become. Our food supply, for example, relies on the health of pollinator species like native bees, honeybees and butterflies. But near catastrophic losses have been reported in the bee population, and butterflies are also threatened.
The White House-endowed Pollinator Health Task Force has created a plan to help save the pollinator ecosystem and ensure the safety of the food supply the pollinators help maintain. Among other goals, the strategy hopes to decrease the alarming loss of honeybee colonies over the winter months and to increase the population of eastern monarch butterflies by 600%. It also seeks to protect various bird species and bats, all part of the pollinator ecosystem. Part of the Task Force’s recommendations include establishing and/or improving more than 7 million acres of pollinator habitat land throughout the US.
