Our Approach

The problem we are positioned to solve

Belgium has a legally binding obligation under Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 to reverse pollinator decline by 2030. It must implement the EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme by December 2026 and submit a National Restoration Plan by September 2026. It cannot do either credibly without distributed, georeferenced, species-level observation data collected at scale. Belgium currently has no functional pollinator monitoring scheme. That is not a policy gap. It is a data gap — and data gaps are solvable. The Save the Bees Foundation exists to help solve it.

Pillar 1 · BeeWorld — citizen science at scale

BeeWorld is a georeferenced citizen science platform that collects passive GPS observation data from participants across Belgium. Its core scientific insight is that absence data — the documented non-presence of pollinators in a given location — is as scientifically valuable as presence data. Conventional monitoring records where bees are. BeeWorld also records where they are not. This distinction is critical for mapping pollinator collapse at municipal level and building the spatially continuous dataset that EU-PoMS methodology requires. BeeWorld is not a game that happens to collect data. It is a data collection system that uses game mechanics to sustain participation at the scale required for statistical validity.

Pillar 2 · The Sanctuary Map — from observation to evidence

Raw citizen observations become scientifically usable evidence through the Sanctuary Map — a georeferenced habitat database that classifies landscape units into three zones: green (viable pollinator habitat), blue (degraded but recoverable), and red (functionally collapsed). This classification is not decorative. It is the output format that municipalities, regional governments, and national authorities require to identify restoration priorities, justify investment, and demonstrate progress to the European Commission. The Sanctuary Map does not tell policymakers what to do. It gives them the documented evidence base to justify what they already need to do under EU law.

Pillar 3 · EU-PoMS alignment — our data is policy-ready

The EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme adopted in September 2025 specifies a standardised methodology for collecting annual data on pollinator abundance and diversity. BeeWorld's data architecture is designed to be aligned with this methodology from the outset — not retrospectively adapted to it. The Foundation does not position itself as a replacement for scientific monitoring institutions. It positions itself as a distributed data collection layer that feeds into them — reducing the cost of national-scale monitoring and expanding geographic coverage beyond what institutional resources alone can achieve.

Pillar 4 · Honey retail network — commercial sustainability

The Save the Bees Foundation is anchored to an artisanal honey production and retail operation with roots going back to 1968. A foundation whose mission is pollinator protection that has no commercial relationship with active apiculture is arguing from the outside. Our honey partners give the Foundation direct operational contact with bee health, seasonal colony dynamics, forage availability, and the practical consequences of pollinator decline on working producers. The honey product line generates revenue that supports the Foundation's operations and demonstrates that conservation and commerce are not in opposition. They are the same argument made in different registers.