 Good morning and happy World Bee Day to everybody joining us. Thank you so much for logging on to the webinar pollinating a dynamic economy prioritizing pollinators for better food systems. This webinar is being hosted by FAO North America and the Slovenian Embassy to the United States. I'm Elena Clark. I'm here with the FAO liaison office in Washington DC and I'll be your moderator today. Before we kick things off. I'd just like to go over a few quick housekeeping items for everyone. First things first just wanted to let everyone know that this event will be live streamed on Twitter and YouTube and you can find it on the FAO North America. We have a general website. In case you want to go back and watch again. This event link will also be shared with all participants afterwards as well. And additionally, we also will be having a Q&A session after the panel this morning. And we do ask that you keep all answers are sorry, all questions for our panelists that you'd like to ask in the Q&A box. Introduce yourself. Tell us where you're joining from today in the chat box but do try to keep those questions relegated to the Q&A box. So before we get started. Just wanted to give a quick thank you to the Slovenian Embassy and the United States for helping us put together this event and specifically for Mr. Baruch Zunik who was integral and helping coordinate this event. And first to get us started and to kick off this event. I am pleased to turn the floor over to Mr. Vinlandra Sharon. He is the director of FAO's liaison office for North America here, and he has more than two decades of national and international government experience leadership in agricultural world development and food security issues. In addition to his other postings he served as the DP of the World Food Program executive for and as the Asia group representative on the FAO's program committee. You can find his full bio posted in the chat box if you'd like to learn more. Vinlandra the floor is yours. Thank you. Thank you Alina and very good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening to all our participants and all those who are joining us because I see from the participants list that people are joining from all across the globe. Like the first wishes which came our way was from Indonesia so you can see the range of participants joining in and that is that I think all goes really well for the pollinators and the bees because that shows the level of interest, which is there around the globe in ensuring the bees and pollinators of all you, they survive and they help us reach our food security goals. Alina was mentioning, we are hosting this event today in partnership with Embassy of Slovenia in US, and we are extremely grateful for the ambassador and his team at the Slovenian Embassy for having agreed to host this event with us today. I'm extremely thankful to Dr. Jose Otgorsek who's the Slovenian Minister of Agriculture and to representative Susan Wilde, who's the co-chair of the Congressional Aperian Beekeeper Caucus, who will both be sharing the keynote and the message through a video recording. And of course a very, very warm welcome to Ambassador Kajza who joins us in person. He's the Slovenian ambassador to US and also to our esteemed panelists, Abraham Bixler, Jamie Ellis, John Ferry and Elijah Koseir, who will be with us today through the program and share their ideas and concerns with us. I'm here to answer, well, hopefully multiple questions and concerns which come from people and of course, last but not the least, Matt Woody who was an artist of repute and also one of the biggest champions I have met in my life for bees. So you'll find him doing wonders with his paintbrush while this webinar is on. So welcome all of you to this webinar. You are aware that pollination is a fundamental process for survival of our ecosystem and much of our wildflowers of course, but much of our food, nearly 35% of global agriculture line and 75% of the world's food crops get impacted by pollinators, by bees or other pollinators. And therefore it was extremely important for us to raise awareness about the work, the hard work that pollinators put in ensuring global food security. We are really thankful to Slovenia which championed this cause and pushed forward for initiating the World Bee Day, which was supported by the membership, a unanimous support by membership of FAO, which then found favor with the United Nations and 28th May got declared as the World Bee Day. For those of you who like storing these small tidbits fats, must tell you that the day was chosen in honor of Anton Hansa, I hope I'm pronouncing his name correctly, he's a pioneer of modern epiculture and born in Slovenia this day in 1734. So that's who we are honoring today. And of course we are honoring the bees. So the diversity of bees and other pollinators we are all aware is falling and this concerning trend is caused by a number of factors be it pesticide, insecticides, unsustainable farming practices, monocropping, excessive use of chemicals, climate change, you name it and all these factors are impacting pollinators today. It is extremely important that in the agriculture community and in the policymaking community we really take note of this, of this crucial fact and take steps to check this decline because pollinators are absolutely essential for the well-being and the food security at the globe. And in this regard I must command and give a shout out to Representative Al Blomo who is the author of the legislation Save America's Pollinators Act, which calls for use of latest scientific research and perspectives to ensure that America's pollinators are protected. The bill is effectively specifically calling for establishing a pollinator protection board, cracking down on insecticides that are toxic to pollinators and implementing a state of art monitoring network for native bees. So I think if the Congress and the Senate, if finally the House does accept and becomes an act, it will be a remarkable feat going forward and a great contribution by the American legislators and policymakers to ensure a protection of pollinators. I think it's a very timely bill because it's really a time for us to rethink how we relate to nature, how we relate to pollinators and what action we can take to support this tiny but extremely crucial factor in ensuring millions of livelihoods and the global food security. So hopefully our discussion today will help us, all of us, after we have heard all our panelists and everyone will help all of us to do that rethink and contribute in whatever little way in whichever fashion we can towards ensuring protection of our pollinators. So with that, I welcome all of you again to this, what I'm sure will be an interesting one hour and hand the floor back to Elena to take the proceeds in forward. Thank you. Thank you so much for those illuminating words and laundry, but it's definitely given us a lot to talk a lot to think about as we continue this webinar and hear more perspectives. Before we turn, turn our attention over to our Slovenian colleagues. I would like to first turn our attention to a brief introductory video on World Day that also gives us a little bit of perspective on the country of Slovenia's leadership in a culture and beekeeping. The video will now play. Thank you. James. Just one moment, James. Thank you, James for sharing that video. On that note, we would like to turn the floor over to the Slovenian ambassador to the United States, Tony Kaiser, we are very grateful to have him with us today from the embassy in Washington DC. Thank you. Thank you very much, Elena. I'm really happy. Thank you very much, Mr. Director for encouraging words. I'm really happy to be here to serve in this beautiful country and to be here today on the world's bidet. Mr. Director already mentioned the name Anton Janssa, who was born in 1734 and who was actually, so to say, cultivating at that time, Vienna nobility, how important it is to keep the bees. I'm really happy that we are working together, that we have this possibility to work together with the food and agriculture organization in North America to address the critical role of pollinators in ensuring sustainable food production. It makes me congratulate you and your team, Mr. Director Elena and everybody who has been actually working hard, and of course my colleague Borod Junich, who was coordinating from our side so that we are really proud that we have event today for the world bidet together with you. Mr. Director already mentioned that the pollinators are instrumental. I think the number was mentioned, 35% of the global crop production and three quarters of crops that produce fruits and seeds for human consumption depend on pollinators and that is really very important. So, as you said, Mr. Director, bees are insignificant in size, they are not big, but they play a really crucial role in helping tackling hunger poverty, as well as contributing to job creation and economic growth. And you already mentioned, I will just shortly repeat that over the past decade we have seen a dramatic decline of pollinator species. I think 100 to 1000 times higher rate of extinction than normal. And here we have to look at the human impact, speaking about the monoculture agriculture and of course a wide pesticide use. If the number continued to decline at this rate, this could have really, and is already having wide reaching repercussions. So, without saying, we need to work, continue to work together on a global scale and of course coordinate among different countries, organizations, stakeholders working at the global level to reverse decline trend of pollinators with restrictions of pesticide use. And on the other hand, toxic biological pest control. I'm really pleased with the distinguished panel. You will be announcing, you already announced a panel of experts that we have here today for this important discussion. And I'm particularly proud and happy that we have today Honorable Congresswoman Susan Byatt, who I learned was a former beekeeper, but she's still keeping. She's still keeping activities related to the pollinators as she's co-chair of the congressional apiary and beekeeper caucus. We are really looking forward to work with her later on. I will conclude with my short remarks and just to introduce our Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Dr. Jozef Podgorzhek. I had the honor, I have to say before I was posted here, I was serving as a state secretary for the government and at that time Mr. Podgorzhek was my colleague. He was a state secretary and then he was promoted to work as a minister and he's really doing a great job, I have to say. Our minister will talk about the efforts of Slovenia in taking for the protection of pollinators and ensuring sustainable food systems and what the international community together we should do for this end. So with this I will thank again and I'm looking forward to the productive debate at this panel. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very pleased to be able to participate in this webinar to celebrate the fourth World B Day. Special thanks to the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Washington and all the people who have actively participated into making this event possible. We are still fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and it continues to shape our lives. However, the pandemic has also reminded us of the importance of safe, stable and sustainable food chains and systems for the people and the planet that needs bees and other pollinators for their survival. By declaring World B Day, we wanted to expand and develop the activities for raising awareness of the importance of pollinators, bees and beekeeping, as well as combine the effort of all countries in the world for the common care of bees. However, the main purpose of World B Day is to enhance the international cooperation in addressing global issues such as global food security and, as a result, the elimination of hunger and the preservation of the environment. World B Day is highly important for Slovenians. We have always been a beekeeping nation. Beekeeping is part of our rich history and cultural heritage. We are very proud of our Carniolan honeybee, which is one of the national symbols. Our rich beekeeping heritage is part of our identity and beekeeping is a way of life for many Slovenians. Pollination by bees and other pollinators is one of the most important ecosystem services. It is essential for the functioning of natural and agricultural ecosystems, therefore for food production and biodiversity. The UN General Assembly announced 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables. Fruits and Vegetables are essential for a healthy diet. Pollination is an essential and free-of-charge service offered to us by nature. Approximately 80% of agricultural crops and wild plants depend on insect pollination. There is an increased need for pollination because of the growing world population. The quantity and quality of crops depend on pollination. Food, which is produced by insect pollination, is the key source of vitamins which are indispensable for human health. Apart from honeybees, wild pollinators are also crucial for pollination since they contribute to at least half of the agricultural produce. They are even more efficient and they ensure crops of higher quality due to the better pollination. The events in the recent years have reminded us that food security should not be taken for granted. Pollinators will play an important role in the post-COVID-19 recovery and the transition to sustainable agricultural production or food systems that would be more resilient to crisis and other challenges. The initiative for World Bidai was born out of concern for the existence of bees. Its aim is raising awareness about the importance of bees, the fact that they are at risk and the need for responsible action. The 2021 UN Food Systems Summit will take place during the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU. Its aim is to pave the way for the necessary change of food systems in order to make them more sustainable, fair and resilient to crisis and shocks. It is becoming clearer than ever that their development has taken a dangerous turn. The production method and food consumption that are currently pre-voluntary are economically, socially and environmentally unsustainable. The data of various international organizations shows that in recent years we have witnessed an increase in hunger, the loss of biodiversity, the certification, deforestation, soil depletion and water depletion and pollution. Slovenia will take this opportunity to recall the important role of bees and wild pollinators as part of the priorities for a transition to sustainable food systems. In 2021, the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, Slovenia and the United Nations Conference on Tourism and Development will stress the importance of creative economy for the protection of bees and other pollinators. Architects, designers, writers and filmmakers put bee houses in urban centers and the necessity of bee protection in the mind of people. They are more successful at any other social or economic activity. I would like to conclude by mentioning another important activity that will take place at the global level. Slovenia will award the Golden Bee Award to promote and support the innovation and excellence of individuals and organizations that have significantly contributed to the protection of bees and the awareness arising of the importance of bees and other pollinators. It is our ambition to make the Golden Bee Award the most recognizable award for international achievements in the field of bees and other pollinators. I was also pleased to learn that this year the beekeeping academy of Slovenia has successfully organized two online beekeeping courses for American beekeepers. Let me finish by expressing our wish that bilateral relations between our countries will deepen even further and that this event is the first step towards an enhanced cooperation, especially in the field of beekeeping. Thanks for your attention. Thank you so much Minister Podkorsk and to Ambassador Kaiser for the great introductions and opening remarks as well. I think I speak for everyone I say it's been extremely helpful to hear background from both of you considering your storied careers in agriculture and and pollination in related fields. I'm very much looking forward to continuing this collaboration between our two countries as well on these important issues and look forward to seeing how the Golden Bee Award continues to to progress that's very exciting as well. So before we move on to our panel discussion into introducing the live artwork from Matt Willie today, we have one last opening remark keynote speech from representative Susan Wildes, though she cannot be with us in person today due to the demanding legislative schedule. She has graciously sent video remarks as well. And a little bit of background. I think we had already mentioned but representative Wilde started the congressional API and beekeepers caucus and is a former beekeeper herself. So I look forward to hearing her remarks. If we could play the video now James that would be fantastic. Thank you. This is Congresswoman Susan Wilde representing Pennsylvania's seventh district, and it is a pleasure to express my support for building awareness of the essential role that pollinators play in sustaining human life. Without pollinators, quite simply, humans would go hungry. Today, half of native bee populations in North America are believed to be declining. Honey bees in the United States decreased by 60% between 1947 and 2008 and bee colonies per hectare have declined by 90% since 1962. Despite this reality, policymakers for far too long have not adequately heeded the warnings of scientists when faced with the alarming decline of the native bee populations and other pollinator populations. The US agriculture is heavily dependent on pollinating bees. Honey bees serve as primary pollinators for 90 to 100% of all apples, plums, cherries, almonds, macadamia nuts, blueberries, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, cantaloupes and cucumbers that are produced in the United States. And as primary or supplementary pollinators in the production of peaches, peanuts, strawberries, grain and seed crops, soybeans, melons, lemons and pumpkins. A single bee colony can pollinate 300 million flowers each day. That translates to an annual estimated value of $12.4 billion. As we look at the state of bee and pollinator populations today, it is clear, however, that we must do more to build genuinely sustainable models of agriculture and development that seek to avoid the use of harmful chemicals on a mass scale. To refuse to do so would be to accept unacceptably high environmental and social costs for our biodiversity for the health of farmers and other agricultural workers for consumers and for the future of human life. In my own community in Pennsylvania's Greater Lehigh Valley, I am proud to count among my constituents some extraordinary small family farmers who are driven every single day by their dedication to getting the highest quality, most sustainable food to market. That's the spirit and mindset that I believe that we must champion and prioritize never more so than when it comes to ensuring healthy bee populations. And as a former beekeeper myself, I will always have a personal passion for this issue. In Congress, I founded the Congressional Apiary Caucus, and over the coming weeks and months, I look forward to continuing to work on building awareness here in the United States, and hopefully with officials across the globe as well. Thank you so much, and I wish you all a healthy and peaceful World Bee Day. Thank you so much, Representative Wild. It's great to have such a fantastic advocate in the halls of Congress for beekeepers. And I think all of these discussions have set a great foundation for our panelists going forward. And I look forward to building on these ideas, but to give us a little bit of a break and to add some some levity. To these high level intellectual conversations we're having here, we now turn to Mr. Matt Willie, who is the founder and muralist for Good of the Hive. He will be, I'll let him, you know, introduce his mission a little bit. But just to give you a bit of background, he's created 32 murals so far and installations with over 85,000 hand-painted bees. And he'll, he has graciously agreed to paint a bee for us today, which you'll be able to see as the panel continues. He'll be keeping tabs on his progress and you'll be able to watch his painting process. So I think that'll be a real treat, but Matt, I'll turn the floor over to you for a moment. Thank you. Thanks, Elena. It's an honor to be here. I'm, I first worked with or even presented like I think it was 2017 at the around table with Vim Lendra and that was when I knew nothing. I mean, I really knew nothing about all of this work and pollination. So you guys have taught me so much as I've been able to watch everything happen around World V Day and what everybody's doing at the UN. And one quick correction, I met 8500 bees so far on my way to 50,000, not 8000, okay. Yeah, so I am an artist and an art activist and I founded an organization called the Good at the Hive in 2015. And the goal at the time was that I would personally hand paint 50,000 individual honeybees and murals and installations around the world. Now the 50,000 number is an average in a healthy hive. I just wanted to pick a nice round number and the mission of the Good at the Hive is to get people curious about the planet we live on. And it's a lot of art, bees and storytelling. And it started years ago, basically like what everybody's talking about is this need to share with everyone the importance of these, these pollinators and bees. And it has blossomed into so much more. The vision for the Good at the Hive now is if this all goes as planned for the 50,000 is a world filled with people that see and experience the connectedness of all things. Because although it was meeting one bee on the floor for two hours where I created this connection with her, I saw her in a way I'd never seen a bee before there was a change in me. And that has unfolded for me to understand what everybody is talking about that there is pollination but that is directly linked to soil, food, water systems, human health, all of this is connected. And the pollinators, especially the honeybee for me is such a great entryway into that world for people. Because I'm not like the pollinators behind me right here are any of the ones I've painted in the 32 murals from San Diego to Nebraska to the UK to DC. They're not pollinating anything. They're a symbol. So the bee to her hive is us to our world. The whole project which is at 8500 bees at this point in six years on its way to 50,000 is one painting. It's one project connecting us all the ideas that will take 15 more years or 20 more years however long it takes for all of us to have one place we can go to say okay this is this conversation this working toward the solution there's there's a spot to go so this piece behind me is actually the conversation piece. That's the title, and it began at last year at the Albany State Capitol, when we were lobbying to get the bill to the floor because it's in the bees Protection Act and this will put a ban on certain use of neonicotinoids in New York State, which would be the first in the US to do this. And so I offered my skills we brought it in and, and I am committing this painting isn't and I'm committing to keep painting pollinators at different events like this one here or at other things as the conversation continues until that bill is passed so I thought it was appropriate to just add a pollinator for world bee day I'm going to add a honeybee over here while the rest of the talk is going on so hopefully in about 30 or 40 minutes we'll have another bee in the world. Thank you so much Matt for sharing your uplifting message and mission with us I think that sets a great starting point for us for our for our conversation. Incidentally, with having that your conversation piece in the background. So to continue with your metaphor of each of us being a sort of be to our own hide as being a world we're going to turn our, our attention over to our panelists or should I say are our bees. So, our first panelist that we're going to chat with today is Abram Vixler who is joining us from FAO headquarters in Rome. So we're grateful to have him here at this hour and just to give you a little bit of background about about the panel. So going forward it's going to be around 20 to 30 minutes and we'll have about two minutes for each, each answer two questions per panelist, our other panelists joining us today will be with a cozier, who is the founder of circular change. So she'll be being a global economics perspective to discuss how bees and pollinators can tie into the economy. And then we have Mr. John Ferry, who is the a purist for the colonies at Mount Vernon and at the Kennedy Center. And it's also the president of the Northern Virginia be keep be keepers association. We have Mr. Jamie Ellis who is the director of the University of Florida's honey bee research and extension laboratory. So thank you to all of our panelists for joining us and I look forward to a very fruitful discussion going forward. As mentioned, Abram, we will start with you. So first question. Given your, your background, I was hoping you could provide us a little bit of information on how the increasingly industrialized nature of agriculture has contributed or intersected with the decline of our pollinators and their population. Thank you, Elena. It's very nice to be here. Hello everybody and greetings from Rome where we just celebrated at headquarters the world be day had a lot of panelists and high level presentations. Elena that's a really important question. As, as many of our speakers have already mentioned industrialized agriculture has really driven declines in in pollinators and I think it's important to note that when we talk about pollinators. They're incredibly important, especially in in large industrialized but but also just in a large part because of their, their efficiency for pollination but there are, there are many many different species of of pollinators that we depend on there's a thousand species of bees alone in addition to the honey bees plus the mammals, the birds, the bats, different different other different types of insects as well. And, you know, when we talk about some of the drivers of decline of pollinators. One of the one of the big drivers has been habitat loss that as in many parts of the world agriculture has become more industrialized it's become bigger monocultures have been been planted fields have gotten larger. And you lose diversity, you lose diversity of of important habitat important nectar and floor resources for pollinators, you lose habitat for for the birds for their insects for bats as well so that's a, that's a big driver. Intensification of agriculture is often been on the heels of of unsustainable use of pesticides as well and over and unsustainable use is often a part of monoculture and monocropping that that causes decline. Another another thing is that as fields and as farms and as production has gotten bigger we've needed to depend more on managed pollinators managed honey bees and pest and diseases are a big issue as as hives move as they migrate. There's the possibility of of pests and disease transfer as well and that's, you know as as agriculture becomes larger that's a that's a real possibility. And also I think a really another important factor from industrialized agriculture is that that agriculture has really has a very very large carbon footprint has has proven climate change in in many ways and that climate change is also a factor in really threatening our bees and our pollinators, but the good news is that agriculture can also help to reverse climate change as well so there is good news for that but all in all some of those those factors and their complex interactions have caused has have caused have become threats to to bees and pollinators and are causing decline in certain parts of the world. Thank you for that thoughtful analysis Abram. I think you brought up some some very crucial points. I'd like to expand a little bit more on on the good news naturally that that you touched upon there. So through your work at the plant production and protection division or your work and research generally. Is there any good news going forward. You know any promising nature based sustainable agriculture practices or policies that you know seem to be helping assist in and combating this habitat loss and monoculture loss of diversity going forward. Yeah, there are FAO has been working in many of these approaches with with many of our partners globally, you know, just just looking at agricultural practices making a difference one of the ones that comes to mind that that our team works in is that of agriculture ecology and agriculture takes a, it takes a systems approach to not only production but the marketing the consumption of food. It has components. And one thing I failed to mention too is just that diets play a very important part in why agriculture has become intensified and agriculture steps back and it looks at diet. It looks at cultural and cultural and food traditions. Agriculture ecology takes a, it's a transformative approach to food systems that that looks at economics. It looks at production approaches the environmental sustainability issues and the social sustainability issues. And there are components of agriculture ecology is that a diversification and and so I talked a bit about how monocropping and monoculture and the increasing size of farms is a problem diversification is is a really important principle or element of the of agriculture ecology. Another, another exciting thing that we're seeing that that's, that's part of sustainable agriculture is part of agriculture is that of co creation and sharing of knowledge. And this, this is about science and local indigenous knowledge researchers working together in a particular context to create solutions that are sustainable across the three dimensions and we heard in in our world be David just a few hours ago. We had a panelist Frank Roy from Northeast India, you talked about local and indigenous knowledge and incorporating those into sustainable agricultural systems and and relocalizing the food systems with that. And along with that, you know, as a wealth of diversification that that often comes and that touches on another important and exciting sustainable agricultural practice is that when we take more of a landscape approach. When we look at the connectivity between our agricultural fields or plots and the broader landscape the watershed. The surrounding hedgerows the force and we become cognizant of that then we do we start to see ways that those benefit pollinators and we start to see ways to better protect and ensure that there's the connectivity that that many of the wild pollinators need. In order to thrive and survive and you know in the so that's that's from a global perspective in looking at a North American perspective, the work that's happening with regenerative agriculture with a focus on soil health with a focus on diversification of cover cropping and diversification of crops. You're seeing some of the ways that we can start to reverse some of the threats and reverse some of the decline of pollinators and be so we have to, you know, I think one of the bottom lines is we have to think holistically about agriculture we have to think about context and we need to think about how do people. How do we part in that how do we co create knowledge together and realize that there's no silver bullets and that we minimize trade offs and we we try to optimize the system in a holistic and diversified manner. Thank you Abram for for that elaboration and you know in keeping with your theme of attacking these issues from a from a holistic approach, if we parse it down from the global and the macro level. I think that anyone who doesn't work in these fields and isn't themselves a bekeeper or, you know what a pollination specialist. Is there anything that that we can individually do to help diversify our ecosystems and help move forward and assist in these pollination efforts. So that's a great question so I've kind of spoken from the global perspective into that effect. I'd be remiss to say, or to not say that FAO through the international pollinators initiative to where we are working in these. I'm remiss to to preserve and sustainably use pollinators but this there's things that everybody can use or can do wherever you're at one is that if you have a yard if you have any place that could be suitable for pollinators, then then habitat conservation but plant a garden leave your hedge rose, you know if you're if you're in a place and, and you can leave the weeds in your garden or the weeds sometimes in your lawn those can conserve an important function. I'm excited to say that today. We just released the youth in United Nations Global Alliance challenge badge on pollinators. So it's chock full of activities that that youth from, you know, all ages can do to learn about pollinators to make a difference. Advocate to your your policymakers about the importance of pollinators. You know, another thing that that we learned about in our world be days is, is Professor Jane Stout talked about the all Ireland plan of action on pollinators and the lessons learned after five years and it's chock full of useful things that that gardeners can do useful what citizens can do. And one of the most important, and I think effective things is that we, we as citizens can vote with our dollars so the food that you purchase and consume. You know, that was a lot of those were were produced with the need of pollinators to help increase the yield and also the quality and so you know, learn about the food that you're, you're consuming or purchasing and purchase food. That is raised in sustainable ways that the benefit and promote pollinators like we talked about with diversity and with an emphasis on soil health and a broader landscape view and also on the health and well being the livelihoods of the people producing it. Absolutely well that's very helpful to me and I hope that's helpful to our audience as well to get that background, some counterintuitive knowledge that that I would have, you know, never thought about keeping keeping weeds around I think we're all taught the opposite so it's good to have this this conversation. I can't hear that and to have great advocates, like you and great programs like the international pollinators initiative and look forward to seeing that progress as well. If we can stay on the research topic but turn our gaze over state side, we will shift over to Mr Jamie Ellis at the University of Florida. Thank you, Abram for all of your comments and backgrounds there. Jamie could join us on the screen. Alright, there he is welcome, Jamie. Again, he is the director of the honeybee research and extension laboratory at the University of Florida. And, obviously, Florida is one of the states most known for their for their beekeeping and their agriculture. So let's jump off of our conversation with Abram a little bit. Keeping on the topic of knowledge sharing and in solution creation in your research and your work at the US honeybee lab. We know, we've all come to know that the issues within pollination pollinator decline and within honeybee communities is not all external based off of, you know, the agriculture industry climate change and, and all of the myriad of issues that that Abram graciously outlined in the past but there are internal issues such as, you know, CCD pollinator collapse disease, and, and other pests. And I was hoping you could give us a little bit of background on your work with those issues and if there are, if you could identify any promising conservation efforts on these topics or, or any other related topics that are threatening to the honeybee populations. Thank you so much to the FAO and the Slovenian Embassy for hosting this very important event I've been very fortunate to visit Slovenia what an amazing country with a great rich beekeeping tradition so I can't think of a better partner to for the FAO to be doing this world be day so happy world be a day to everyone. So I've been keeping bees since I was 12 and that's over three decades now just three decades and I absolutely love keeping bees. I'm a beekeeper. I've really just been enthralled with it over the decades, but I will admit, it's difficult to do because there are a lot of things that bees face you've already heard about some of the stressors that have been mentioned. I'm just going to kind of start big and zoom in. And as it was already mentioned there's about 20,000 species of bees on the planet, only nine to 11 of those depending on who you ask only about nine to 11 of those are honeybees and only one of those honeybee species is the one that's the predominant one used around the world. It's distributions in Europe the Middle East, Africa and a little bit of Western Asia. So this bee apis molyphus been spread around the world and is managed and and this particular species has somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 to 35 subspecies or races. Due to its spread around the world. It's encountered a lot of diseases and pests, perhaps the most notable of those is a might that gets on the outside the bees body and feeds on its fat bodies this particular might Varroa spreads a number of pathogens to bees and so the Varroa and these other to just absolutely destroy colonies when as beekeepers we spend a lot of our time trying to control Varroa but they also face nutritional issues queen quality issues virus issues. There's no doubt climates playing a role when you survey beekeepers all of these issues come out as major issues. Now, with our managed honeybee populations taking such significant hits. Obviously, it's important that folks like us at the University of Florida other folks around the world try to study and figure out what's killing bees and how we can mitigate those issues. Elena you specifically asked about conservation efforts. One of the things is that everybody right now is so focused on managed honey bees we forget that this thing is a native species in Europe the Middle East and Africa that it has a distribution over these three areas and some of these 30 to 35 subspecies I mentioned earlier are possibly extinct or threatened. So part of the conservation work that needs to be done now is just just determining the conservation status of these bees. I'm an absolute believer that the answer to the issues that we are having in the managed honeybee population today. The answer I believe is in the wild population of honey bees in Europe the Middle East and Africa and it would be a tremendous to see these populations go down to lose some of these subspecies that very well may hold the key to Varroa resistance or virus resistance. So my team and I and other teams around the country in the world for that matter trying to take those first important steps and what conservation needs for these wild honey bee populations with a long term goal of improving the sustainability of our beekeeping and the agriculture and the human populations and the ecosystem that all of the honey bees and the other pollinator support. Thank you for providing those those details Jamie and especially for the focus on on wild bees I know that's not typically you know what we focus on on the academic discussions or the public discourse is typically on you know kept bees and in our domestic culture so that's that's very fascinating and a lot of us wouldn't have likely heard about this if we weren't talking to you today. So, in discussion on your research at the University of Florida and all of these important research efforts. Obviously being a university you have access to a lot of young people who might be interested in these issues or in adjacent issues but aren't exactly familiar with with beekeeping or the issues of that's around pollinators. I was just curious if you could provide us a little bit of background as to what the level of of interest is from students and how particularly you're able to bring in students and get them engaged in these important issues and obviously we have to have the next generation engaged to keep working on these crucial efforts. It would be my pleasure to speak to that so so I mentioned earlier that that I'm a 31 year beekeeper right so I've been keeping me since I was 12 and when I was early in my career at the university when pollinators were only one of those things that was just kind of a passing fancy. Folks did not talk about the importance of pollinators much in 2006 the year I got hired at the University of Florida, all of that changed. There was ground swell and pollinator advocacy and a general public understanding of the importance of pollinators not just here in the US but all around the world. And Elena along with that public understanding came a flood of young people who want to be involved in saving pollinators I have been absolutely flabbergasted stunned at the number of undergraduate students graduate students. High school students middle school students and even elementary school students who are aware of pollinators. And so here at the University of Florida we really take two approaches to try to ensure that next generation of besides it's a little difficult to say next generation because you and I both know that young folks are powerful advocates, even now they don't even have to wait. So we do that primarily through two different avenues the first of those is instruction at the University of Florida and my sister universities all around the US and the world for that matter. We offer courses in bees beekeeping pollination ecology here at UF we already offer five courses on honey bees and we're planning and offer three more. In the next few years that will be eight courses as many courses is probably offered anywhere else in the world, just on pollinators. So we have an amazing interest in graduate students if I had an unlimited supply of money I'd be able to train dozens of grad students every year there's just that many students interested. Outside of the university system though we also address this to our extension programming that's where we take that information to the general public and in the US we have programs youth programs such as for h ffa. We have a lot of programs we're getting into schools schools are coming to us it isn't absolutely amazing to me at the interest of young folks and I will tell you, and I will say this, and believe it I'm not just saying this because I'm on an FAO panel and I think it's the right thing to say, I cannot believe the talent that's behind us right now. I'm a fervent believer in the next generation coming around and and being smarter, faster, and more together than we are even today and I'm absolutely confident that that generation is going to help us address the issue so people are falling over themselves to be involved with pollinators these days universities like ours groups like yours around the world are absolutely coming together to make it possible for young folks to be involved and let's face it they're going to solve these issues I have no doubt. That's certainly reassuring to hear it and definitely encouraging to know that you have all these educational resources available but but even more reassuring to hear that it's not pulling teeth to get young people involved and there's already that existing excitement from from the youth and and that is great to hear from us and I'm glad that we have such great experts you know at the forefront leading this charge. Thank you so much for sharing that perspective Jamie and we look forward to hearing more and seeing more of the great work out of the University of Florida and your next generation of beekeepers and and researchers there. Before we turn on turn over sorry to our next panelist john fairy, I would just like to give a quick shout out to Matt Willie. I know we're all fascinated watching the bee come alive there. He's looking great. Awesome. Well, thank you Matt, and thank you again Jamie. And we are going to drill down over to the more local level in Washington DC and speak to Mr john fairy who is the beekeeper for the colonies at Mount Vernon and at the Kennedy Center in addition to being the president of the Northern Virginia beekeepers. We have some photos that we'd like to show just to give everyone a visual of the Kennedy Center and Mount Vernon and their bee colonies since I know it's a little hard to picture especially if you're from DC, thinking of, you know, be hives being up there so john if you could, I believe this is the roof if you could help us out a little bit is that the roof of the Kennedy Center we're looking at. Yes, it is. And for those who don't know that this is the Kennedy Center for the performing arts it's a living memorial to President, President john F Kennedy in Washington DC. And on the left, you see a picture of some of my hives they're looking out across Washington towards the Washington monument in the background there. And you can see the roofs of the Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial to the side. And on a beautiful day the last December this was taken. And then this is another shot of my hives on the roof. Looking over towards Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River towards the Virginia side. Next slide I think we have Mount Vernon as well. Yeah. Yeah, it's a geographic location there. Yeah, this is the end and also for those who don't know Mount Vernon estate is the home of the United States First President George Washington. And it's an honor to be there too. And this is a look at some of my haphazard looking highs there. Now they look very healthy to me looks great. Awesome. All right, I think we're all set there. So thank you for for walking us through that and for sharing the background on the highs in there, and their location. And most of us don't typically think of historical sites and concert halls as being the traditional location for a working be hide. So I was just hoping you could give us a little bit of information as to how you kind of sought out that opportunity and made that happen. You know, for those of us who might be considering urban beekeeping or opening up our own personal be had but aren't sure it's the correct space I think this would be helpful for people to hear kind of how you made that happen and any advice to anyone. Obviously there's there's only one Mount Vernon one Kennedy Center but you know something adjacent along those lines could could be happening. Yeah. Well, mountain Vernon was looking for a new beekeeper to replace someone that left, and a friend of mine knew about it and asked me if I was interested. And I was very excited that prospect with the Kennedy Center I simply asked. That sounds simple but the key is to ask the right person, and that is the hard part. The right person had a friend's party, and she was open to the idea and help me get started there. That woman is now retired and just completed her first year of beekeeping. So I helped convert one more be keeper there. The differences between the two locations. I'm not a city person or a country person but there's much beauty in each of these locations on the roof of the Kennedy Center looking over Washington. I think the most beautiful city in the country. Seeing the Washington Monument the Lincoln Memorial the Jefferson Memorial, all the cherry trees around the title basin. It's, it's just beautiful. I drive over to Mount Vernon to check those bees, the gardens the lawns the river the trees and of course the history. I'm very lucky to be a beekeeper to both of these very important and historical locations. From a beekeeping perspective, working on the roof has its challenges of being hotter and having severe winds. I have to strap strap those hives down. I think I did have winds blow the covers off my highs and realize that wasn't going to work. There are more logistics involved on the roof and moving equipment and down. The good side is that I don't have any pests, a pest being like mice or skunks. Or small hive beetle for that matter too. I do of course have the Varroa mite which Mr Ellis spoke of that infects all of our hives everywhere and as a major pest at Mount Vernon I am just inside the tree line as you saw from the picture. I'm very isolated and much cooler and I parked my car about 20 feet from the highs, so I'm able to easily move equipment in and out. And, and I do have some pests at Mount Vernon I do have skunks and mice and things like that. So, each, there are pros and cons to each of them, of course. Both locations as a volunteer at Mount Vernon I volunteer my bees to them as pollinators to their gardens and orchards and the farm there at the Kennedy Center. I see the bees as being ambassadors to the beekeeping world into the plight of the mighty bee. That's how I see it. I think that's a great way to frame it and I think you offered some some great advice that's universal you know even even outside of beekeeping just just to ask just to get started so I think that can apply to anyone who's, you know, perhaps looking to to get involved with beekeeping just to just to test it out themselves and see if it works. I think you could expand a little bit on the difference between suburban and and urban beekeeping of course in your, your work with Northern Virginia beekeepers I assume that is primarily suburban beekeeping and I know you do. A lot of extraction from from homes with with be hives that have set up shop in someone's home or something about nature and all. So I think that's one of the things that to expand on on your work there as well. But just a little bit of information as to the different challenges or or the different benefits. Well, as a, as a beekeeping Association, serving the community and as individual beekeepers that we are. We are ourselves known through community outreach and by going to fairs gardening events craft fairs and such. We also try to make ourselves known to police and fire to be able to help in public be swarm situations. You know, speaking to children in schools helps us gain their confidence that bees are a good thing and not to be afraid of then they spread that news to their parents. The Association also teaches beginning beekeeping classes each winter. And not, not quite to the extent of Mr Ellis does at the university but we do offer beginning beekeeping classes and and we sell those out each year. With strong, strong request for that. I'm just answering several people. One gentleman actually is a recently retired four star Admiral. He became interested after several conversations I had with him and his wife. But with him though I have to help him a little bit more than I do others as he's still quite a busy man. The woman I work with to right now is a young mother who teaches preschool. And she told me it's been a lot lifelong interest for her and that she feels now is the right time to get started so she told me that she even had bees and honey as part of her wedding theme. Yeah, when I, when I was being given my volunteer tour of the Kennedy Center. I was introduced to the bill as the building beekeeper to this elderly woman also volunteer. She looks at me and says what are you going to do, kill them. This was a teaching moment. I don't know how much influence I had on her but hopefully left her with some positive thoughts on bees. And, but as a friend said to me we have we have to be a solution and an asset. We have to pivot people from being afraid to impressed and being an advocate for the bees. If you aren't doing outreach, you're not taking care of your bees. We need to be part of the community, and that's our message. I think that's a great way to put it and it seems like you're having a lot of success with doing a sort of direct outreach with the community that the ground up building trust you know at very young levels going in and and speaking at schools is it primarily elementary schools high schools. Elementary primary primarily elementary, I did be talks to all my children's classes as they were growing up. And, and unfortunately those stopped about the fifth grade. When the teachers said that it didn't work work into their curriculum. But the younger classes loved having me there. I'm sure yes I'm sure that's very informational and a nice break from, you know the typical arithmetic and social studies that you're learning in elementary school I would have loved that. So is there, you know anything that perhaps any of your recently joined members have shared with you about what, ultimately, you know convince them to get involved or join. We talked to people all the time and you know we tried to be advocates and engage people in conversations be keeping is a great conversation starter. As I said, the, you know, working with the four star Admiral and young teacher. It's been in the back of their minds and and they finally took the plunge. And so, you know, they hear about bees and the news and such and, and they come across us and engage us in conversation and we get we get there. We get their energy going on the beekeeping side. I think you've got great momentum and seems like it's only building with your classes continuing to sell out so I wish you the best of luck and look forward to hopefully getting to try some of that Kennedy Center honey one day perhaps. Maybe. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for for sharing your, your experience and, and all of that very helpful background with us john it's been been great to see, and it looks like our bee is continuing to come along well over there he's got a wing forming to what are we, how far through this be would you say we are Matt 70% I'm pretty I mean I'm not too far from done I got some details to do it's I think the camera is sort of making it look longer than it is so give those particular people. Imagine her a little bit tighter but but yeah it's coming along a little bit more to go. It looks great. All right, well we'll come back to you in a second and now we are going to turn to our last but certainly not least panelists, Ladea Cozier. I hope I pronounced that correctly. Thanks for joining us from Slovenia so thank you for being here this was late in in the evening for you I'm sure you wanted to wind down your professional day so we appreciate you taking the time and and providing us with this great global economics perspective. I would just like to give everyone a little bit of additional information you know for those who who aren't familiar and correct me if I'm off here in the description, a circular economy and what circular change your organization, you know, is generally looking to promote is is focusing on waste reduction and conservation in the economy. I was just wondering if you could tell us a little bit. You know any specific examples of how you know bees can can fit into and pollinators can can fit into that economy and how they can, you know find find an entry point as I know that's what you. That key service that your organization provides is is helping organizations and governments you know adopt the circular change model how, how can pollinators both individual and larger organizations research groups, how can they come into the circular economy and benefit off of that and provide benefits back. Yeah, and I'm super happy and privileged being with you here today. I will just start because I'm so inspired by everything what I have heard and having met you back there in the background drawing to be it's super exciting. Say something what what came to my mind because I'm coming from Slovenia and as I wrote already in the chat. We are the only country with love in its name but there is another number that came to my mind because we are 2 million people all together. And today when we are talking about bees, and I have Googled a little bit because I'm not an expert as the others today are, and I have found that the honey bee colony can be up to 60,000 or even more. So what it means that we here in Slovenia by being 2 million people if we were these, we were for around 30 colonies only. That is really interesting when when you start thinking about the role of the humans of the nations and the bees compared to the United States and so on. And just to open the floor with this kind of thinking how, how tiny is our population and how an important sometimes we humans are, but we are putting us in the center. And back to your question, yes, I'm the founder of circular change this is the private nonprofit organization focusing on circular economy, but I'm wearing several hats. I'm the chair of European circular economy, stakeholder platform in Brussels collaborating with system science in Austria, which University in Kyoto and so on and so on. So like a bee running around flying around now not we are in front of the screen. So, to circular economy, yes, and to that, what does it mean or what it brings. And also to the beekeepers and to, to others engaged into let's call it this industry. So circular economy is not about waste. Of course, what we are aiming is to prevent waste and to use everything what has been considered as a waste as something very valuable and what we can still reuse or integrate back into the system. So it is not something what is detached from our daily life, nor from our businesses. So when we talk about circular economy how we understand it, it's about maintaining value in the production cycle, as well as in consumption cycle for as long as possible. So having this different attitude towards whatever we produce, or towards whatever we take from the nature. It is not about taking using throwing away. This is very linear. It is about thinking whether we have to produce something or maybe there is another way we can use a service instead of a product. Or when we produce something. The first question is, how are we going to design that, because on debt, everything as depends, can we then repair it, can we repair, refurbish, can we maintain it for longer than just let's say mobile phone for two years. And at the very end comes the recycling so so this is the concept of circular economy, and it is of course related to sustainability as if we take sustainability and SDGs as a kind of umbrella, under which then we have the circular economy model. It works hand in hand and absolutely back to SDGs, for example, where we're talking about responsible consumption and responsible production. This is exactly what we are solving by the circular economy models. And you asked me about yes how it resonates with the bee keepers and with everything related to that. We have heard a lot today about the holistic approach about systemic approach about interdependency interconnectivity. And I think bees are actually the symbol of debt of this mindset and we humans are lacking this mindset. Now, if we see also our economic system and our social system as something what is very connected, and the COVID crisis has shown us how vulnerable we are, and how we depend on resources and how we can suffer if we do not have access to these resources. We understand why it is so important how we actually use these resources because they're limited and we can only operate within the planetary boundaries. And now to the bee keepers and everything related to debt. What I find interesting is when I'm observing or working with different organizations and companies is how bee keepers are becoming an important stakeholder in different value chains. It's not only about producing honey, as it used to be or traditionally we think, aha, that is the final product that we have, but how it is connected also to the production of I have here an example of bio based. And it is instead of plastic falling that you would use this is something what is very, very organic made you see the bee made bio degradable material and then wax is put it over and you can pack your sandwich in debt and reuse it several times so this is one product for example that is very much related with bees, and then we see in the whole health sector, not only the products that are now for our immunity system but also in tourism like epi therapy, how we are recognizing this as something what is bringing peace to our mind and also strengthening our system and on and on. And yeah, I will stop here because otherwise you cannot ask me questions but I just wanted to show the variety of opportunities that we are finding within the system where circular economy is basically the, the, yeah, the principle we are implementing. Thank you for, for that very thoughtful answer Ladea and, and also for providing us that visual aid there that's a great tangible example. I particularly particularly liked your comparison of bees being the, you know, original adopters for the circular economy model. I think that's that's a very good way to frame it in our own minds. I was hoping you could, you know, for those of us who aren't economists, but are, but are curious and are interested in, you know, looking into to conservation efforts for for pollinators and, and otherwise. I know the common refrain is often that you know these models and these efforts are comedy high financial cost. Is there, is there any truth to that and, you know, what are the offsets or the costs for, you know, adopting these methods. I'm not sure if you have any specific examples for, for pollinators per se but you know if we were to to mirror that this approach in pollinators I think would be helpful to, to still hear, you know, these sustainability measures and employing that the circular model of, you know, concentrate of an economy geared towards towards conservation and recycling and, and all of the elements that you just described, you know, what are the I'm sure that pollinators would have great answer because I'm not unfortunately pollinator but I know that we can learn from them a lot. And I will switch yes now to that. So, is it a cost and how much does it cost to shift towards circular economy. I would say how much is it going to cost us if we are not shifting towards circular economy, because we are facing the consequences of climate crisis and health crisis is related with a climate crisis, and it is not something what will pass only by vaccination. We will still have the problems and we will still face everything what climate crisis is bringing us and showing us that the way we are treating our planet and natural resources is not the right one. So, I think this has put it us in the position of the masters of the nature, but we are just part of the nature, and it is what we have heard from pollinators that they understand that very well. And in other industries, they're, they're coming to the similar conclusions and I like to say that still money makes the world go round. And the people and CEOs realize that not being circular is much more expensive that being circular, then they start this transition and even invest into this, into this shift of the business model. And why, why it works for them. I will take a concrete example because it's the easiest way to understand. For example, Aquafill this is the company that is producing nylon so we would say what does it have to do with circular economy. And years ago their CEO, Julio Bonazzi, who is the diver and very related to the nature. He said, Okay, let's try to produce this nylon from something that already exists. So let's make a recycled nylon. And what is a good idea. Oh, let's recycle fishing nets. And here comes the story. So once you start this very exciting journey towards circular economy, all of a sudden in your value chain, new actors appear before it was you bought a material so and then you produced nylon from oil directly. But now you have to collect fishing nets. While doing so you get to those people who are fishers, and they don't have the knowledge how to collect this fishing nets. And then you realize that there are animals that are trapped in these fishing nets, like turtles and so on, then they called British zoo. So the British zoo educated the fishermen's how to save those animals, and so on and so on. And this journey is exciting. It is also costly at the very beginning but at the end what they managed really to do is to produce a new material. And this material has a high demand on the market because now we are looking for this kind of solutions. And it is worth trying. So it is win-win-win situation at the very end. And we can find other examples. I just took this one because it's so obvious how this value chain has changed and how the material has been replaced with something new. And for the pollinators, I would say there are so many options or opportunities as well. If you are thinking about that, how you are going to pack your products. So do you have to use, I don't know, plastic or do you have to use every time one packaging or you can go for refill. So this is also about changing habits. And here we come to the culture and here we come to the education, what we have heard before. So it is about working hand in hand and curating the same values. And that is how then we can jointly co-create also circular and sustainable solutions. Great. No, thank you so much for that example. I think that's very illustrative of the model and how it could play into the pollinators industry as well. The higher investment upfront but leads to higher yields in the long run as opposed to the traditional linear economy. I think that's very helpful to know. Thank you so much for your background and for your very thoughtful responses. That was extremely thought provoking. And as we let Matt finish up his bee, I'm going to open up to the Q&A section. But just because we're running a little bit low on time, I'm just going to do one, maybe two questions. And I'm going to open it up to whoever would like to answer it. I assume it would apply more directly to either Jamie or Abram, but if anyone would like to take a stab at it, feel free. So this question comes to us through the chat box from Brooke, and she is asking whether any of our panelists today are currently working with or have worked with tribes or native nonprofits on bee projects and in particular if anyone has worked with Indigenous American bees. So I can take a quick stab at this. My team and I have worked with non-apis bees as well. So apis is the genus for honey bees, and so my team and I have worked with other bees. Even here at the University of Florida, we have a pollinator ecologist who works with other bees, and I know many universities are doing something similar. It's very common these days to find someone who specializes on honey bees. It's not going to be me in this case, UF, but also someone who works specifically with native bees and native pollinators. And I think that there's a growing emphasis on that. I will tell you there's way more folks who study that today than there were 15 years ago when I was hired at UF. And a lot of it was born out of this issue recognizing pollinator crisis that's happening. Thank you, Jamie. That's very helpful. Does anyone else have anything to add on that? No? Okay, great. Just one more question then quickly. This question comes to us from Reza. She asks, the bee population in general is threatened, but however, does the competition have compound between native and invasive bee species? Does that play into additional issues within colonies? I don't want to hog all the answers, but I can take that if necessary because we've put this as well. So, yeah, in the U.S., that's a compelling question because apis malifera, the honey bee is not native. And so that question gets asked all the time, given that we have 2.7 million managed honey bee colonies in the U.S. So there is some evidence that there are issues between managed bees and native bees. And, you know, as someone who works with honey bees, it'd be nice to be able to say that there's no impact of honey bees at all in native pollinators. But there's certainly a growing body of evidence that there are some interactions, perhaps disease and pest spread, competition for floral resources, etc. But I would argue it's not as straightforward as a lot of folks like to argue. There's also evidence that there might be disease movement from native bees to honey bees. In fact, many of the diseases that honey bees have may have originated in native bee populations. So the jury's still out. There's a growing body of research looking at that. I know in a lot of places such as Europe, where honey bees are native, there's still efforts looking at, well, honey bees may be native, but they're also managed in high densities. So it's a great growing body of research at the moment. So it's a very timely question because many, many folks are trying to address it. That's fascinating. Thank you so much, Jamie. I think Abram had something that he would like to add. Yeah, just to add to that. You know, I think it, as Jamie mentioned, bringing the global perspective in there's still so much of a lack of monitoring that we have on bees and especially other wild pollinators. And there's one of the areas of work at the International Pollinators Initiative is monitoring research and also assessment. And one thing that's exciting is there are new tools coming out for citizen science. But you know also put attention on the IPPS, IPBES pollinators report, the seventh report that was released. If you look at it, most of the data that we have on bees and pollinators and their decline and their drivers. It's mostly from the global north. It's mostly from North America and Europe. And if you look where, where the data is lacking, huge needs for data, South America, Latin and South America, Africa, and Asia. So we really have a big need for that. And I think to just to say something about the last question, I don't know in particular about Indigenous groups working in North America. But in that IPBES report, they did, they do a good job of really outlining what they call multiple knowledge systems and bringing together like we talked about that Indigenous local knowledge with the science to create an evidence. So they have a framework that IPBES uses quite a bit. And if you look online for that, the multiple knowledge and evidence bases on that. It's a great starting point for thinking about co-creation. And for, for, you know, furthering the research, the citizen science to try to get more data where the data is lacking so we can make better decisions. Thank you, Abram and thank you, Jamie, also for for your thoughtful answers to these very important questions. I'm glad we were able to get to those as well. So the questions were already a little bit over time. I'm going to go ahead and close out the question and answer section but, you know, feel free to still post them in the chat and perhaps the panelists will be able to take a look or, or we can take a look afterwards. Perhaps you can connect with someone out from the chat box. He's also joining and knows the answer. I'm back to Matt, and to take a look at this gorgeous bee that he has been so lovingly constructing for us. Let's get a close up of this bee right here, if we can, if you'd be able to. If there's anything you'd like to share any any closing remarks from you and the bee, Matt, we'd be happy to hear those. I just thought this was a great event. Thank you to everybody who is continuing to share the story it's so different and you know I've been doing this since 2015 and I came into this world of bees, completely clueless like a blank slate. There is a marked difference in the knowledge and the way that we all present this story that is fantastic to witness it's really worth. I see the message getting carried beautifully these days so. And if anybody I just thought in case anybody's curious they want to check out the good at the hive.com you can see all the other 32 murals there's one at the National Zoo. So if you're in DC and you know they're there, they're all over the world and continuing so follow along on the journey. That's it. Thanks. Perfect. Thank you so much Matt and thank you for all of your hard work on on your painting today we're very. Absolutely, to have been, you know, a small part of this beautiful mural. Thank you again. So now, after that grand reveal, we are going to turn to closing remarks from our panel will each have a minute to summarize their key takeaways from the event today. John just because you're first on my screen I will let you go first. Yes, I, if, if, if you are interested in becoming a beekeeper find a class to take there are many things to learn and to and understand to be successful. You can keep bees almost anywhere. I visit a gentleman who had a hive on his apartment balcony. However, not every place is a good location you will need to consider the area and the flight path of the bees first. Well, and be an advocate advocate for the honeybee. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you so much. If you'd like to go next. Okay, yeah, I have learned a lot and I have realized that you are not beekeepers but actually be carriers, because you are taking care of bees and also the community. So this is my message, my lesson learned, and I'm inviting everyone, of course, to join us at circular change and explore the opportunities for collaboration, because as it has been said, we are the best entry point for your circular economy journey and we are learning from be carers a lot. Thank you, and good luck. Thank you so much. Jamie will, we'll go to you next. I have a few points I'd like to make number one, the world population is growing. We're going to have to feed more people with the same amount of land. So smart agriculture is needed and a key component of that is pollination in many systems pollinator dependent systems especially pollination is an important is as important input as fertilization is as pest control is etc pollination is key. We actually have the ability to address this issue. We can do it pollinators can be protected we have the skill set to do it. And it's just waiting to be done. Number three I'm really optimistic that the future is bright. The work that's being done the up and coming scientists collaborations between industry and government partners will bring this to fruition. The fourth and final point that I want to make is given everything that I've said we've got to feed more people with the same amount of land pollination is important we have the ability to address it the future is bright. I think the key component at this point is we have to work together. We have to recognize this common goal this common vision. We have to have the desire to address this issue. And then we have to do it. We have to do it the way honey bees would do it working together to achieve a common goal and I'm optimistic it can be done. And this is not just one of those things that we'll talk about, but we'll actually address and I look at the participant list. I look at the panelists and I'm just encouraged that it can be done. Thank you, Abram if you'd like to deliver the closing closing remark. Yeah, just very quickly. I didn't even mention much about it, but for more information. If you look up FAO is pollination website, it's chock full of resources. It's cataloged pollinator plans of action and policies from across the world. There are. There's even guidebooks on and how do you economically value pollinators, not just bees but pollinator so it's chock full of resources and I think you just bring it back around again. Through an agricultural organization, I just want to stress again to think about the food that you're eating, think about how it was produced, how it may have been dependent on on bees and other pollinators to produce it, and give thanks to them for for the nutrition and the bounty of the food that we have. It's been great being here with you today. Thank you. And thank you so much all incredibly important and poignant concepts addressed by each of you and your, your closing remarks and in your thoughts on the panel. On behalf of FAO North America and the Slovenian Embassy of the United States I would just like to thank all of our panelists, speakers and participants today and everyone who who joined us for this very robust discussion and webinar today. Again, the live stream will be shared with all of you who joined us today afterwards and feel free to check out FAO North America and the Slovenian Embassy on Twitter or our websites to get more information on bees or on World to be Day. I look forward to seeing you all again soon. And thank you all for for your participation and have a great World to be Day.