Pollinators are critical to Europe’s biodiversity, food security, and ecosystem resilience. Yet, their populations are declining due to habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide use. Under Article 10(2) of the Nature Restoration Regulation, Member States must improve pollinator diversity and reverse the decline of pollinator populations at the latest by 2030 and thereafter achieve an increasing trend of pollinator populations, measured at least every six years from 2030, until satisfactory levels are achieved. In order to be able to assess Member State progress it is therefore necessary to have a robust and standardised monitoring method which provides high quality species abundance data; this will be provided by the EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EU PoMS, Potts et al. 2024). EU PoMS will generate huge numbers of specimens that need to be identified to the species level, and therefore, significant increases in taxonomic capacity are needed across the whole of Europe. While significant capacity-building and training efforts are currently underway, there is considerable scope for the inclusion and adoption of emerging technologies to help reduce the taxonomic burden.

The MAMBO project can potentially contribute to this goal through its development and demonstration of cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and insect camera traps, that can support how pollinators are monitored across Europe. This policy brief outlines MAMBO’s innovations, highlights emerging opportunities, and recommends actions for integrating these tools into EU PoMS.

Read the policy brief here and find all MAMBO papers in the project's RIO collection.