By Abbas Nazil
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project has emphasized the crucial role bees play in sustaining ecosystems, biodiversity, and agriculture, calling for urgent and collective efforts to conserve bee populations in Nigeria.
Speaking during an interview with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, Project Coordinator of FCT ACReSAL, Mrs. Caroline Opara, stressed that bees are indispensable to pollination and therefore critical to global food security and ecological balance.
She explained that bees contribute to approximately 75 percent of pollination activities in agriculture, making them vital to crop productivity and food availability.
Describing bees as “golden insects,” Opara noted that their decline poses a serious threat not only to food systems but also to biodiversity and environmental health.
Opara called for increased awareness, stakeholder engagement, and concrete steps to preserve bee habitats and promote apiculture, the practice of beekeeping.
She highlighted that bee conservation is an essential component of ACReSAL’s broader interventions, especially as honey is one of the valuable non-timber products supported by the project.
According to her, apiculture presents a dual benefit—supporting ecological sustainability while also offering income-generating opportunities for local communities.
She stated that since forestry is largely community-based, efforts to conserve ecosystems must align with sustainable livelihood strategies.
Opara revealed that ACReSAL is actively promoting beekeeping through awareness campaigns, technical support, and the provision of resources for local initiatives, particularly in areas vulnerable to environmental degradation.
She urged government agencies, farmers, civil society organizations, and environmental groups to collaborate in protecting bee populations as a national priority.
She warned that continued environmental degradation, land-use changes, and unsustainable farming practices pose direct threats to pollinator habitats, which could undermine food production and ecosystem resilience.
Global data suggests bees are responsible for 70 to 90 percent of all insect pollination, making their role irreplaceable in natural and agricultural landscapes.
Without bees, the reproduction of many plants, including those that produce fruits, vegetables, and seeds, would be drastically impaired.
Opara’s remarks serve as a clarion call to policymakers and environmental actors to elevate bee conservation within the national agenda for sustainability.
As climate change, deforestation, and pollution increasingly disrupt ecological systems, the survival of pollinators like bees becomes more critical than ever.
The ACReSAL project aims to integrate conservation with climate-resilient agriculture to strengthen both human livelihoods and natural ecosystems.
