Indigenous honeybees play a key role in biodiversity and in forest ecosystems. They are also critical for pollination in agriculture, especially in countries like India where small and marginal farmers constitute 86% of the farming community and have a diversified cropping pattern. Over the years, there has been a decline in the population of honeybees due to a variety of reasons: deforestation causing habitat loss, increased use of pesticides in agriculture and lack of awareness about their role. This decline has happened globally and also in India, but very little data exists on this. The problem is compounded in the case of indigenous honeybees, primarily due to a lack of focus on indigenous honeybees - both in research and also on the ground.



This symposium will seek to focus attention on indigenous honeybees in India - with Dr Parthib Basu providing an overall context to the discussion on what we know about the population of indigenous honeybees in India and highlighting the gaps. This will be followed by a sharing of best practises from across the country by practitioners on the ground from South Gujarat, Nilgiris, Kerala - who work with the community to promote awareness on indigenous bees and useful role they play in agriculture, forests and biodiversity in general.