Overview
- Regional recognitions in Peru’s Amazon now treat stingless bees as legal subjects, the first insect species globally to receive such status.
- The designation grants rights to exist, to maintain healthy populations, and to live in pollution‑free environments.
- The move builds on a 2024 national law recognizing these bees as native species and on subsequent municipal protections.
- Authorities are obligated to restore habitats, reforest degraded areas, restrict pesticides harmful to pollinators, and support targeted science and funding.
- Scientists emphasize the bees’ central role in tropical pollination—linked to reproduction of most Amazon plant species—drawing international interest in the precedent.