Spring and early summer are catalysts for pollinators across the UK as warmer temperatures arrive, and RES has followed suit with a plethora of policy activity.
The Bees, Pollinators and Invertebrates APPG has held events in the run up to, and during, Insect Week, and we have continued our involvement with the DEFRA Pollinator Action Plan.
Pollinator Action Plan
As the UK’s leading body promoting insect science and research, it is essential that RES feeds into DEFRA’s new plan for pollinators, due to be published in the second half of 2026.
DEFRA have now assigned policy leadership roles to various stakeholders across the plan’s four focus areas, and RES is taking a leadership role across several actions, mainly related to pollinator health.
In line with this, Chief Executive Simon Ward and Policy and Public Affairs Manager Tom Leeman have attended meetings with DEFRA officials overseeing the plan. Moreover, Simon and Tom met with Professors Simon Potts and Mike Garratt from the University of Reading, with the group agreeing that RES would produce a peer-review report after the publication of the Pollinator Action Plan. This report will ensure that the evidence base underpinning the plan will be updated and refined overtime.
Policy Working Groups
To ensure that RES takes a proactive approach to policy discussions in future, Tom is setting up three policy working groups to discuss issues related to each of our policy focuses. These will be Insect population and conservation; Agriculture, Food and Pest Management; and Human and Animal Health.
- The Insect Population and Conservation Group will principally address insect decline, endangered species protection, and recovery efforts. It will also be responsible for policy on insect monitoring and identification.
- The Agriculture, Food and Pest Management Group will address policy issues on food security, the agricultural sector, SFIs, insects as food and feed, and integrated pest management.
- The Human and Animal Health Group will be responsible for policy responses on medical and veterinary issues, biosecurity, invasive species, and vector-borne diseases.
These groups will meet on a biannual basis for formal meetings, and for ad-hoc meetings to write responses to government consultations relevant to their portfolio. They will also produce policy statements on a range of issues to bolster the RES Policy and Public Affairs Strategy.
This is a great opportunity for those who want to influence government policy on a specific area of nature and conservation policy.
Want to take part?
Each of the Policy Working Groups will comprise five or six RES members researching these areas.
If you would like to join a working group, please get in touch with Tom by emailing tom@royensoc.co.uk.
APPG inquiry on invasive species
On all issues relating to policy and public affairs, RES leadership of the Bees, Pollinators and Invertebrates all party parliamentary group (APPG) is a key asset in our ability to influence debates in Westminster.
To make the most of this position, the APPG has now launched its first inquiry of this parliamentary session, entitled Securing the future for UK pollinators and key beneficial insects: Preparing against the threat of invasive species.
This important and wide-ranging topic, affecting pollination, wider UK biodiversity and food production, has already attracted significant attention amongst parliamentarians. Chaired by Barry Gardiner MP, the other members of the cross-party panel are Adrian Ramsey MP, Manuela Perteghella MP, Blake Stephenson MP, Irene Campbell MP and Lord Randall.
Our first oral evidence session – which focussed on assessing the risk to pollinators from specific species such as the Asian Hornet – heard testimony from Professor Helen Roy of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, consultant ecologist and entomologist Professor Jeff Ollerton, and Professor Phil Stevenson, Head of Trait Diversity and Function at Kew Gardens. All are experts in the field of pollination studies and invasive species.
There will be two more sessions in September which will focus on producing recommendations to DEFRA on how the UK’s system for identifying and tracking invasive species can be improved. Witnesses will be drawn from the research community and the third sector.
Concurrently, we opened a written call for evidence, which closed on 7 July. To date, we have received a wide range of responses from entomologists working in universities and research institutions across the UK, as well as representatives from third sector organisations such as the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Buglife and Kew Gardens.
The final report, which we will launch at events at the COP Biodiversity Summit in Armenia in October, followed by a parliamentary reception in Westminster on 16 November. This presents an excellent opportunity for RES to raise the profile of the threat from invasive species, and the wider Pollinator Action Plan, which will also be published in the Autumn.
APPG Insect Week events
The APPG was also busy during RES Insect Week. On 9 June, the APPG collaborated with Dr. Erica McAlister and the Natural History Museum, organising a fantastic tour for members of parliament.
APPG Chair Barry Gardiner MP and member of parliament for East Antrim Sammy Wilson MP, who sits on the Environmental Audit Committee, attended the tour, during which they saw collections of pollinators including wasps, bees, moths and true flies. RES President Allan Watt and incoming Vice President Seirian Sumner were also at the event. The tour was followed by a dinner, which provided an excellent opportunity for RES fellows to discuss the work of the Society and its APPG with Barry.
Furthermore, the APPG convened members of parliament for a photoshoot in Portcullis House, Westminster, on 23 June.
In line with a priority for Insect Week more broadly, the photoshoot focused on the need to train the next generation of entomologists.
There is a significant skills shortage and not enough insect scientists in the UK, as evidenced in a recent report by the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee, and it is therefore crucial that we train more scientists and entomologists to help tackle climate change.
Engagement with Shadow DEFRA team and Conservative Environment Network
As part of our engagement with all the major political parties, RES has been in discussions with the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) since the Spring. CEN is due to publish a report into the regulatory burden facing the UK agriculture sector, and RES sent CEN insights arising from a June 2026 event we organised on insects as food and feed.
Insights from our members in this space reveal that the UK has not authorised the feeding of insect protein to pigs and poultry, unlike the EU, which did so in 2021. CEN took these insights on board and incorporated it into their report, released on 8 July.
This engagement led to a meeting with Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP, who Simon and Tom met on 7 July to discuss Society priorities on conservation and food security.
Follow us on social media for updates and share your insect news and events using @royentsoc
