European initiatives on taxonomic resources and capacy building for wil bee monitoring

Several studies have now shown at different spatial scale that certain species of the wild bee fauna are in decline in Europe. In response, some European countries and the European commission are implementing action plans to mitigate negative population trends. To evaluate the efficiency of these actions we need an accurate estimation of population. One of the first actions proposed is therefore an ambitious monitoring program, which involves the development of taxonomic / recognition tools and training to use them. Several projects started in 2021 and concern the whole of European continent. We will present here the initiatives on taxonomy (ORBIT project) and on capacity building (SPRING project). ORBIT and SRPING are three-years projects commissioned by the General Directorate for Environment of the European Commission. Orbit aims to develop taxonomic resources for facilitating European bee inventory and monitoring. SPRING aims to strengthen the taxonomic capacity in EU Member States, and support preparation for the implementation of the EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme “EU-PoMS”, notably by organising training sessions for different level of expertise.