Thank you for inviting the David Suzuki Foundation to appear today.
I'll preface my comments by saying that, while I very much appreciate this opportunity to offer some additional perspective on bee health, it is unfortunate that the committee did not make space for more witnesses from environmental organizations during the course of the broader study. I can see only one on the list of 41 witnesses before these latest hearings, Ducks Unlimited. Other leading NGOs with expertise in this area are noticeably missing from your list of witnesses, and I'd encourage the committee to hear from groups like Équiterre, the Canadian Wildlife Federation and Farmers for Climate Solutions on the opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and advance sustainable solutions in the agricultural sector.
The decline of pollinators, including bees, is a global concern. A number of interacting factors or stressors have been identified that negatively affect bee health. These include disease and parasites, which you've heard a lot about already, climate change, habitat loss and pesticides.
I'm going to focus my comments on the latter.
In addition to honeybees, which have been the focus of much of the previous testimony, there are more than 800 species of native bees in Canada that also play an important role in pollination. If we don't hear alarm bells ringing for native bees, it's largely because there's no one to ring them. Beekeepers, of course, actively monitor honeybee populations, whereas, as you heard from the witness in the previous round, wild bee populations are not only harder to track, but there are also fewer resources available to track them, though we know that many of these populations are also in decline.
In fact, a recent study by the U.S. Center for Biological Diversity reviewed the status of all 4,337 North American and Hawaiian native bees and found that, among the species with sufficient data to assess their status, more than half are declining, and nearly one in four bees is imperiled and at an increasing risk of extinction.
In fact, the effects of many of the stressors on bee health can be more devastating for wild bee populations. Consider that, while beekeepers are seeking your support to restore honeybee populations, the effects of any of these stressors on wild bee populations is ultimately population decline.
I want to make a note that we are happy that the government is finally considering listing recommendations to the western bumblebee as well as the monarch bumblebee, which were found to be at risk in Canada way back in 2014. We support moving forward with the uplifting of these species and integrating measures to reduce pesticide exposure in all recovery plans for species at risk.
On the point of the western bumblebee, which was once common in North America, a very recent U.S. geological survey study found that increasing temperatures, drought and pesticide use have contributed to a 57% decline in its occurrence in its historical range in North America. One very interesting aspect of that study looked specifically at neonicotinoid pesticides and found that, in areas where neonics are used in agriculture, the western bumblebee is now less likely to occur. As the rate of neonicotinoid application increased, the bumblebees presence declined further.
I'll take one moment to say that neonics are a class of pesticides that are known to be particularly toxic to bees, as I'm sure you're aware. They affect the central nervous system of insects, leading to eventual paralysis and death as well as chronic effects. It's a case study in the failure of Canada's pesticide regulatory regime that these chemicals continue to be widely used in Canada. It is one of the top-selling insecticides nearly a decade after they were first restricted and then later prohibited in Europe specifically to protect pollinators. A very recent review of the EU report reinforced their earlier findings that these chemicals pose a very high risk to bees.
Mr. Chair, I didn't get a chance to finish all of my remarks, but I will table with the committee some recommendations we have made for strengthening the Pest Control Products Act.