Protecting Pollinators, People & the Planet
The World Bee Project launched World Bee Count 2020 on 20 May. We invited people to take a picture of the nearest pollinator they could find and upload it to an interactive Global Pollinator Map, using a free mobile app.
We thank the people from 65 countries who responded to our call and uploaded over 20,000 photographs!
On 20 May 2020, the Global Pollinator Map was shared publicly by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as part of the FAO World Bee Day event.
To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, in 2017 the United Nations designated 20 May as World Bee Day. The date coincides with the birthday of Anton Janša, who in the 18th century pioneered modern beekeeping techniques in his native Slovenia and praised the bees for their ability to work so hard, while needing so little attention.
Note: The World Bee Project collaborated with Hive Tracks and the Center for Analytics Research and Education (CARE) at Appalachian State University. The project was coordinated by Max Rünzel. Having exceeded all expectations and surpassed the 20,000-benchmark in under 75 days, World Bee Count 2020 was completed in August 2020. The World Bee Count dataset was transferred to CARE along with the responsibility for making it publicly available.
