Bumble bees and other insects now eligible for protection under California Endangered Species Act

Bumble bees and other insects, which make up 80% of California’s animal species, are now eligible for protection under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The groundbreaking 2022 ruling that all insects are protected under CESA is a major victory for protecting these vital animals, and was made possible in part by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Bumble bee species, including the charismatic western bumble bee (pictured above), are essential to the resilience of both agriculture and native ecosystems, and the loss of these and other native pollinators can have far ranging ecological consequences. Having declined extensively from their historic ranges, bumble bees are in urgent need of the legal protections that CESA provides in order to stave off extinction.