I'm very much looking forward to going to Bristol on Wednesday to take part in a workshop organised by the lovely people at the Ecosystems Knowledge Network on 'Applying payments for ecosystem services in practice'.

The Welsh Government has published its draft Action Plan for Pollinators. This is a brilliant initiative and one that I really hope other Governments will emulate. Here is my view on its best points and areas for improvement.
 

Yesterday (26 March 2013), Defra published its field research on the effects of neonicotinoids on bumblebee colonies (Thompson et al 2013). Here is my understanding of the results.
 
The study finds fairly consistent exposure to neonicotinoids in free-living bumblebee colonies. One or more of the chemicals were found in at least some colonies at all three test sites, including the control site, which was next to a 6.5 ha field of oilseed rape not treated with neonicotinoid.
 

We now have over 1000 members of the Valuing Nature Network and I would like to say hello and a warm welcome if you have recently joined us; it's great to have you with us.

Lynn Dicks explains why one headline from an industry-funded neonicotinoid report was disingenuous.
 
In January, a report commissioned by Bayer and Syngenta calculated the economic value of neonicotinoid insecticides to Europe [1]. These companies are the major manufacturers of neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides that the European Commission proposes to partially ban from July because they pose unacceptable risks to bees.
 

Lynn Dicks provides some background information and references to support her World View article, published this week in Nature.