When the Fifth Conference of the Parties to the Convention Biological Diversity established an International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators (also known as the International Pollinators Initiative-IPI) in 2000 (COP decision V/5, section II), FAO was requested to facilitate and co-ordinate the Initiative in close co-operation with other relevant organisations. A Plan of Action for the IPI was adopted at COP 6 (decision VI/5), providing an overall structure to the initiative, with four elements of assessment,
adaptive management, capacity building and mainstreaming. FAO, through the FAO/Netherlands Partnership Programme, supported the initial establishment of a regional
African Pollinator Initiative, the development and publication of its Plan of Action in 2003, and an initial stocktaking of pollinator-dependent crops and browse plants in Africa. The stocktaking document has only been available in electronic form; support from the Government of Norway has permitted its publication in 2007. We hope that the information contained in this stocktaking document will inspire others to make assessments of pollination services in their countries or regions as appropriate. We would encourage those that do so to share these with FAO for wider dissemination, through the following address:
pollination@fao.org.
Linda Collette
FAO Responsible Officer for the IPI
Rome, Italy
