May 20 was declared World Bee Day in December 2017 in New York with a resolution by the UN General Assembly with the full consensus of 115 countries, including all member states of the European Union.

For the 7th time this year on 20 May we are paying special attention to bees, aimed at raising public awareness about the importance of bees and bee products, showing their key role in pollinating plants and for life on Earth. The holiday is celebrated in May, when bee colonies are most active, close to 22 May, the International Day for Biological Diversity.

Presently, the populations of bees, pollinators and many other insects are declining massively. In recognition of the key role that young people can play in addressing the challenges facing bees and other pollinators, World Bee Day this year focuses on the theme "Bee engaged with Youth". It provides an opportunity for all of us - whether we work for governments, civil society organizations, or are concerned citizens, beekeepers, nature lovers - to take or promote actions that will protect and improve the status of pollinators and their habitats, increase their abundance and diversity and support sustainable beekeeping.

Bulgaria is an active member of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), represented by the MOEW. The IPBES report, developed by 80 scientists from around the world, (https://files.ipbes.net/ipbes-web-prod-public-files/spm_deliverable_3a_pollination_20170222.pdf) expresses concern about the challenge of feeding a growing world population in the coming decades. The extinction of bees would be a problem for the human race, as 1/3 of the food produced globally, one in three spoonfuls of food, depends on the availability of pollinators.