“Those unconcerned about the natural world, and I hope their numbers are dwindling by persuasion, will do well to consider the consequences for humanity of the decline of pollinator complexes. Eighty percent of the species of our food plants worldwide, we are informed, depend on pollination by animals, almost all of which are insects. One of every three mouthfuls of food we eat, and of the beverages we drink, are delivered to us roundabout by a volant bestiary of pollinators. Humanity, for its own sake, must attend to the forgotten pollinators and their countless dependent plant species.”
—Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University
(excerpted from the foreword of The Forgotten Pollinators by Stephen Buchmann and Gary Nabhan)
