Let’s get Buzzing for Pollinators

An online capacity building workshop for environmental educators and mentors and rangers in the Junior Ranger programme.

Let’s get Buzzing for Pollinators: Engaging Junior Rangers in Pollinator Conservation

Date: 24th – 26th February 2025

Time: 15:30 – 17:00 daily

Register

Pollinators across Europe are under increasing pressure, with many species declining due to habitat loss, land-use change, pesticides and climate impacts. Their loss threatens plant reproduction, food production and the resilience of ecosystems, making pollinator conservation an urgent priority for Protected Areas and wider society.

This series of online webinars responds to that challenge by focusing on practical knowledge for Junior Ranger mentors and other environmental educators, on how to actively engage young people in pollinator conservation. Across the sessions, experts will explore key pollinator groups, current policy and conservation efforts, and exploring current citizen science initiatives for monitoring pollinator populations.

Mentors will gain practical examples of hands-on activities, learning approaches and resources that can be used directly with Junior Rangers. The series is designed to support meaningful action, helping young people build knowledge, skills and confidence while contributing to real-world pollinator conservation.

The event will run from the 24th to the 26th February with three sessions of 1 to 1.5 hours always at 15:30 CET. Experts from IUCN Europe, European Pollinator Identification Course (EPIC) and Butterfly Conservation Europe (BCE) will lead each session and share their knowledge with us. There will be space for questions and experience sharing, so register now!

The events will be recorded but the recordings will only be available for EUROPARC members, so join us and consider joining EUROPARC if you haven’t already.

The Programme

24th February – From the EU to You: The latest efforts for Pollinators

The series will start with Pollinator Expert Niamh Phelan from IUCN Europe. She will do a quick recap of the state of pollinators in Europe and give an easy to understand overview of the European goals and actions towards pollinator recovery. She will include an introduction to IUCN and share the latest news on the IUCN Red Lists. This session is likely to be maximum 1 hour.

25th February – The Bees Knees: Wild Bees and Hoverflies

26th February – The Wings of Change: Butterflies and Moths

The last session is led by Cristina Sevilleja from Butterfly Conservation Europe and will cover the butterflies and moths that are active in pollination (not all are!). It will highlight the role of citizen science in monitoring their populations, and include practical guidance tools and resources available to Junior Ranger mentors for future activities.

Speakers

Niamh Phelan

Niamh Phelan is a Biodiversity Programme Officer with IUCN and a member of the Biodiversity and Knowledge Team based in Brussels. Her work focuses on the European Red List and the development of Action Plans for threatened pollinator groups in Europe.

Andrea Aracil

Andrea Aracil is a researcher, working in hoverfly biology, taxonomy and conversation. She has been part of multiple European projects related with hoverfly monitoring and conservation and currently she is the project manager of EPIC-Fly project, focused on training hoverfly taxonomy across Europe.

Sara Reverte

Sara Reverte is a researcher working on bee conservation and ecology. She is working on multiple projects involving wild bee taxonomy, bee distribution, ecotoxicology, and giving bee identification trainings.

Cristina Sevilleja

Cristina G. Sevilleja is a biologist specializing in the monitoring and conservation of diurnal lepidoptera. She works for Dutch Butterfly Conservation, Butterfly Conservation Europe, and is the coordinator of the European Butterfly Monitoring Scheme.