Marking a troubling development in the crisis of pollinator decline, the first species of bees were added to the Endangered Species List.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced the determined status on Friday for seven types of yellow-faced bees found in the Hawaiian islands.
It comes after a multi-year effort by the invertebrate conservation organization The Xerces Society to gain federal recognition and protection for the threatened bees.
Xerces communication director Matthew Shepard hailed the development as “excellent news for these bees,” but added that “there is much work that needs to be done to ensure that Hawaii’s bees thrive.”