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Protecting Farmland Pollinators is about identifying small actions that farmers can take that will allow biodiversity to coexist within a productive farming system. Farmers in Ireland recognise the importance of pollinators, but farmland has experienced wide-scale loss of wild pollinators over the last fifty years. By working closely with 40 farmers, management practices that benefit bees and hoverflies on Irish farmland were identified, and a whole farm pollinator scoring system was developed. Using a whole farm pollinator scorecard, farmers receive ‘pollinator points’ each year based on the amount and quality of pollinator friendly habitat maintained and/or created and, each year, farmers receive a results-based payment that relates to the points. Irish farms have great potential to improve both the quantity and quality of biodiversity friendly habitats without negatively impacting on farm productivity. Thirty-one farmers increased their score between year one and year three of the results-based payment and four farms more than tripled their score. The median whole farm pollinator score for the 40 farms increased from 25,696 in year one to 33,572 in year two (31% increase), to, 40,211 pollinator points in year three (56% increase). Each farm type (beef, dairy, mixed and arable) increased their median score over the three years and dairy and arable farms showed the largest increase. This project has helped farmers better understand and engage with nature on their land and has created a measurable system for improving habitats for biodiversity on farms that is accessible to all and has the potential to be rolled out on a wider scale.

Abstract Trade in animal‐pollinated crops plays an important role in global food systems: in many low‐income countries, export of pollinated crops such as coffee and cocoa plays a significant role in livelihoods, while food systems in many higher income nations depend on international trade in these crops to satisfy their local demands. Losses of pollination services therefore pose a significant risk to economies beyond the area directly affected. Using a simple extension of a common economic model, we explore which countries are most affected by a loss of pollination services in three case study groups of 25 countries that are vulnerable to different risks: pesticide use, natural disasters and economic debts. In all three cases, large, developed economies such as the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, are estimated to suffer the greatest economic losses, even if pollinator losses only affect smaller, less‐developed economies. In cases where higher income countries are affected by pollinator losses, there is a significant shift in the value of global pollinated crop production towards other large, unaffected countries. Our findings highlight the need for richer countries to invest in pollinator conservation beyond their own borders to maintain resilient food systems. We provide suggestions for further economic research to better understand and identify system vulnerabilities to pollinator losses. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.