The EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme will track pollinator species' status, trends, and ecosystem services once implemented. The European Monitoring of Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes (EMBAL) will assess how pollinator-friendly agricultural landscapes are, while the Land Use and Coverage Area frame Survey (LUCAS) will provide data on the condition of critical pollinator habitats. The Monitoring of environmental pollution using honeybees (Insignia) project, currently in its pilot phase, will monitor environmental pollution and pesticide concentrations using honeybees.
On 18 October 2024, the STING 2 report refined the proposal for an EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EUPOMS), following the initial expert proposal.
Launched in 2019, the STING project developed monitoring options for pollinator populations in the EU. From 2021-2023, the SPRING project piloted and tested these proposals with a €5 million budget to strengthen taxonomic capacity and prepare for EUPOMS implementation.
The SPRING project (Strengthening Pollinator Recovery through Indicators and Monitoring), launched by the European Commission with a €5 million budget, strengthens pollinator monitoring by expanding the European Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, training experts on wild bees and hoverflies, and piloting a Minimum Viable Scheme (MVS) across 27 EU countries. It also enhances citizen science networks and tracks rare species.
To ensure broad coverage, the project is divided into seven biogeographical regions, tailoring strategies to each area's ecological needs. These include Scandinavia/Baltic, Eastern Europe, Atlantic/Mediterranean, North/Central, and South/Central zones.
The "Know Your Pollinators" initiative aims to enhance the identification and monitoring of European wild pollinator species, particularly bees and hoverflies. In 2021, the European Commission launched two projects: ORBIT and TAXOFLY, to create a centralized taxonomic platform that consolidates species descriptions, images, and identification tools. This platform supports both professional taxonomists and citizen scientists, aiding EU and national policy monitoring activities under the EU Pollinators Initiative.
Additionally, Horizon Europe projects TETTRIs and MAMBO have been initiated to further bolster taxonomic expertise and tools for biodiversity, including pollinating insects.
The European Monitoring of Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes (EMBAL) is a standardized field survey initiative by the European Commission to assess biodiversity across EU agricultural landscapes. Launched to address knowledge gaps affecting policies like the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the Common Agricultural Policy, EMBAL records land cover, landscape elements, habitat types, and pollination potential by evaluating flowering species' density and distribution. It builds upon the Land Use and Coverage Area frame Survey (LUCAS) and aligns with existing national initiatives.
In 2022 and 2023, EMBAL was rolled out across all 27 EU countries. Surveyors examined 3,000 randomly selected plots, each measuring 500 x 500 meters, to gather data without disturbing the land. This information, intended for policy evaluation rather than regulatory compliance, will contribute to national and European statistics. The results from these surveys are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2024.
In 2017, the European Parliament initiated a pilot project to develop a system for environmental monitoring of pesticides using honeybees as bioindicators. Implemented between 2018 and 2021, this project, known as Insignia, developed and tested a citizen science protocol for using honeybee colonies to monitor environmental pesticide residues.
Building on this, a Preparatory Action launched in January 2022 aims to expand monitoring to include other environmental pollutants such as heavy metals, air pollutants, and microplastics. Running until the end of 2024, the survey involves frequent sampling of over 300 apiaries across all 27 EU countries, collecting nearly 10,000 samples and conducting close to 17,000 analyses. The project's budget is €5 million.
The LUCAS survey, launched in 2006, collects harmonized land cover, land use, and agro-environmental data across the EU every 3–4 years to enhance environmental statistics. A grassland module was piloted in 2018 (3,000 sites) and fully implemented in 2022 (20,000 sites) to assess grassland structure, management, and quality. Results from the LUCAS 2022 grassland survey are expected by Q1 2024.
The European Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (eBMS) is a collaborative initiative between Butterfly Conservation Europe and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, aiming to promote butterfly monitoring across Europe. It consolidates national Butterfly Monitoring Scheme datasets, establishes monitoring sites in regions lacking national schemes, and serves as the hub for the Assessing ButterfLies in Europe (ABLE) project.
A significant outcome is the EU Butterfly Indicator for Grassland Species: 1990-2017, which updates previous versions by incorporating expanded datasets and new analysis techniques, contributing to monitoring progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land.