Insight into pollinator conservation initiatives within French protected areas

Pollinators and insects decline is now widely acknowledged. In this context, protected areas (PAs) serve as sanctuaries for biodiversity conservation and could offer a large range of habitats for insects. Here, we built a comprehensive questionnaire aimed to understand how French PAs managed and established actions related to wild and domestic pollinators to inspire ways to improve conservation planning. These actions include beekeeping, inventories of pollinators, installation of insect hotels, and public and professional communication. We reached out to all national parks (NPs), regional nature parks (RNPs), national nature reserves (NNRs), and regional nature reserves (RNRs) and received responses from all NPs, nearly half of RNPs, and dozens of NNRs and RNRs. PAs were categorized based on their pollinator support and actions using multivariate analysis, identifying four typologies: (1) small PAs that are actively engaged in wild pollinator conservation efforts and that limit beekeeping activities; (2) PAs that are actively engaged in wild pollinators conservation and allow beekeeping activities; (3) PAs less concerned by national coordination (tropical islands); and (4) PAs on the move, showing interest in pollinator conservation but so far minimally involved in it. A qualitative analysis identified primary obstacles: human and financial resource constraints, and availability of science and communication resources. Thus, PAs display a large variation in the pollinator conservation initiatives, sometimes underestimating the vital role of pollinators in plants reproduction and within food webs. Despite national protection plans, current initiatives within PAs may lack coordination and scientific support, limiting their effectiveness.