Walmart Inc. is increasing its efforts to support bees and other pollinators with new initiatives to expand their habitats and reduce their exposure to pesticides.
Bees, bats, butterflies and other pollinators play a vital role in producing the world's food supply. About 75% of all staple crop plants and 80% of all flowering plants require the help of pollinators to produce seeds and fruit, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
But these creatures' survival is threatened by factors that include loss of their natural habitat to development and cultivation, and the heavy use of pesticides.
One group of pesticide chemicals called neonicotinoids is so toxic that one treated corn seed can kill more than 80,000 honeybees, according to the Center for Food Safety.
As a step toward combating these problems, Walmart started a pilot program in 2019, planting 21 pollinator gardens at retail locations in three states, as well as one at its Bentonville headquarters. This week, the retailer said it has made new commitments aimed at increasing pollinator health in the regions in which it operates.
Martin Mundo, general merchandise manager overseeing produce and global produce sourcing for Walmart U.S., said the initiatives "serve as the largest pollinator health effort from a U.S. grocery retailer to date."
These measures "will further our efforts to help reverse nature loss and ultimately bring us closer to meeting new nature commitments made by Walmart and the Walmart Foundation," Mundo said. "We have invited our suppliers, stakeholders and customers to join us on this journey as we continue to take action to help protect our planet."
Walmart's "pollinator commitments" involve a two-pronged approach: improving and expanding habitat and promoting adoption of a certified pest-management system.
Steps Walmart will take regarding pollinator habitats include encouraging its fresh produce suppliers to protect, establish or restore pollinator habitats on at least 3% of their land by 2025.
Suppliers of live plants are asked to label "pollinator-friendly" plants, meaning those grown without certain harmful chemicals, for sale in Walmart's stores.
Walmart will continue to avoid selling invasive plant species and help educate customers about adding pollinator plants for their own gardens, the company said. And more than 75% of the plant species used in landscaping at the retailer's new headquarters campus will be pollinator-friendly.
Regarding pesticide use, Mundo said that by 2025, Walmart U.S. seeks to source all of its fresh produce and flowers from growers who adopt an Integrated Pest Management system. These incorporate alternative forms of pest control and specific application practices, and are verified by a third party.
"Driving the scale of our collective pollinator commitments through our supply chain can create industry-leading changes and have a significant position impact for the future of our planet," Mundo said.
Walmart isn't the only large corporation working to save pollinators.
A nonprofit called Pollinator Partnership has worked with such diverse companies as General Mills, The Boeing Co., The J.M. Smucker Co. and Francis Ford Coppola Winery, a spokeswoman said.
Although Walmart hasn't collaborated with Pollinator Partnership, another high-profile Northwest Arkansas company has. Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale worked with the San Francisco-based organization to create a monarch butterfly research station near its corporate headquarters.
Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson confirmed the collaboration in 2019, adding that the company provided some native plants as well as access to the area.
Pollinator Partnership's spokeswoman said the group's Project Wingspan, an initiative in which volunteers collect and distribute seeds for pollinator-favored plants, has also worked with the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville's Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies.
A research associate there helped with the project by generating a digital data platform and private database for volunteers' seed-collection efforts.