For centuries, indigenous communities in Peru have relied on stingless bees. These crucial pollinators are responsible for the heavy lifting in maintaining a diverse ecosystem, preserving crops, forests, and even local culture.
Tiny, stingless bees buzzing around the Peruvian Amazon just became the first insects in the world granted legal rights. In landmark legislation, these high-altitude bees have fundamental rights to flourish under penalty of law.
Peru stingless bee.USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab/ Wikimedia Commons
Historical moment as legal rights granted to the stingless bee
A massive step toward conservation was made in Peru at the end of 2025. Two ordinances, the first in Satipo in October and the second in Nauta in December, gave the Peruvian stingless bee legal rights. The policies designed to give the bees a better chance for survival include restoring habitats, reining in harmful chemicals, supporting research, and implementing climate action.
The law allows the Peruvian people to bring lawsuits on behalf of the insects. Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, founder of Amazon Research Internacional, a group attempting to preserve the ecosystem and Indigenous knowledge, was quoted in Smithsonian Magazine saying, "These bees are key to life in the Amazon." Espinoza continued, "They are the most efficient pollinator of the most important crops we have here. But they are also indirectly contributing to carbon capture by keeping our forests and our trees alive and regenerating.”
Indigenous Peruvian people.Photo credit Canva
Indigenous community is highly reliant on stingless bees
Indigenous people cultivate the bees for their honey and pollen. Their honey can be used for glue, candles, and even arrow-making. According to 2024 research in Springer Nature Link, there were 22 documented different uses for honey, ranging from food to religious practices.
Conservation of the bees not only ensures genetic diversity for the wild species, but also helps secure the health of the local forest and ecosystem. In 2025, the Journal of Ecology and Environment reported that 75% of the local crops were supported by the bees, maintaining seed productivity and fruit farming.
Stingless bees are important for the world's health
A 2025 study in Nature and Health Alliance found that 28 stingless bee species had medical health benefits in the treatment of cancer, type-2 diabetes, obesity, and COVID-19. A 2025 study in Science Direct showed the unique biochemical diversity of stingless bee honey had ecosystem adaptability, cultural uses, and met important food standards.
Because of the bees' adaptability in high-elevation areas, they are vital pollinators with a significant impact on ecosystem resilience and local agriculture. A 2024 study in Scientific Reports documented concerning annual losses of stingless bee colonies in Latin America. The need for bee conservation was highlighted by a fragile balance between bee management and sustainable farming.
Stingless bees are essential caretakers of tropical ecosystems all over the world. Like in the Peruvian Amazon, hundreds of different plant species are supported by bee pollination and used to feed local communities. With climate change and habitat loss, legal attention and lawful rights can hopefully shift the balance to save these vital, tiny pollinators.
Watch this short documentary on the indigenous Asháninka people's beekeeping in Peru:
- YouTube www.youtube.com
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President Donald J. Trump and photo of a forest.
Public united and adamantly opposes Trump’s plan to roll back the Roadless Rule
There doesn't seem to be much agreement happening in the U.S. right now. Differing moral belief systems, economic disparity, and political divide have made a country with so many positives sometimes feel a little lost. Everyone desperately seeks a niche, a connection, or a strong sense of community to which they can feel a "part of," rather than just "apart."
But there seems to be one thing that the country strongly unites over, and that's the "Roadless Rule." With the Trump Administration attempting to roll back conservation policies that protect U.S. National Forests, Americans are saying in harmony an emphatic "No." A nonpartisan conservation and advocacy organization, the Center for Western Priorities, reviewed a comment analysis on the subject. After receiving 223,862 submissions, a staggering 99 percent are opposed to the president's plan of repeal.
What is the 'Roadless Rule' policy implemented in 2001?
The Roadless Rule has a direct impact on nearly 60 million acres of national forests and grasslands. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the rule prohibits road construction and timber harvests. Enacted in 2001, it is a conservation rule that protects some of the least developed portions of our forests. It's considered to be one of the most important conservation wins in U.S. history.
America's national forests and grasslands are diverse ecosystems, timeless landscapes, and living treasures. They sustain the country with clean water and the wood products necessary to build our communities. The National Parks protected under their umbrella offer incredible recreational retreats and outdoor adventure.
Why does the administration want to roll it back?
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins told the Department of Agriculture in a 2025 press release, “We are one step closer to common sense management of our national forest lands. Today marks a critical step forward in President Trump’s commitment to restoring local decision-making to federal land managers to empower them to do what’s necessary to protect America’s forests and communities from devastating destruction from fires." Rollins continued, “This administration is dedicated to removing burdensome, outdated, one-size-fits-all regulations that not only put people and livelihoods at risk but also stifle economic growth in rural America. It is vital that we properly manage our federal lands to create healthy, resilient, and productive forests for generations to come. We look forward to hearing directly from the people and communities we serve as we work together to implement productive and commonsense policy for forest land management.”
Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz explained the Roadless Rule frustrated land management and acts as a challenging barrier to action. It prohibits road construction needed to navigate wildfire suppression and properly maintain the forest. Schultz said, “The forests we know today are not the same as the forests of 2001. They are dangerously overstocked and increasingly threatened by drought, mortality, insect-borne disease, and wildfire. It’s time to return land management decisions where they belong – with local Forest Service experts who best understand their forests and communities."
Why are people adamantly opposed to the proposed rollback?
A 2025 article in Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, expressed its concern over the protection of national forests covering 36 states and Puerto Rico. A rescinded rule allows increased logging, extractive development, and oil and gas drilling in previously undisturbed backcountry. Here is what some community leaders had to say about it:
President Gloria Burns, Ketchikan Indian Community, said, "You cannot separate us from the land. We depend on Congress to update the outdated and predatory, antiquated laws that allow other countries and outside sources to extract our resource wealth. This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless. We are not willing to risk the destruction of our homelands when no effort has been made to ensure our future is the one our ancestors envisioned for us. Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”
Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, stated, "Roadbuilding damaged salmon streams in the past — with 240 miles of salmon habitat still blocked by failed road culverts. The Roadless Rule protects our fishing economy and more than 10,000 jobs provided by commercial fishing in Southeast Alaska.”
The Sierra Club's Forest Campaign Manager Alex Craven seemed quite upset, saying, "The Forest Service followed sound science, economic common sense, and overwhelming public support when they adopted such an important and visionary policy more than 20 years ago. Donald Trump is making it crystal clear he is willing to pollute our clean air and drinking water, destroy prized habitat for species, and even increase the risk of devastating wildfires, if it means padding the bottom lines of timber and mining companies.”
The 2025 recession proposal would apply to nearly 45 million acres of the national forests. With so many people writing in opposition to the consensus, the public has determined they don't want it to happen.
Tongass National Forest is at the center of the Trump administration's intention to roll back the 2001 Roadless Rule. You can watch an Alaska Nature Documentary about the wild salmon of Tongass National Forrest here:
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The simple truth is we elect our public officials to make decisions. The hope is they do this for all of our well-being, although often it seems they do not. Even though we don't have much power to control what government officials do, voicing our opinions strongly enough often forces them to alter their present course of action. With a unanimous public voice saying, "No!" maybe this time they will course correct as the public wishes.