EPIC-Bee in Austria: Building National Capacity for Pollinator Identification and Conservation

The European Pollinator Identification Courses – Wild Bees (EPIC-Bee) is a two-year project funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment. Started in January 2025, its primary objective is to enhance the para-taxonomic expertise in wild bee identification across the 27 EU Member States and contribute to the preparation for the implementation of the EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EU-PoMS). Led by the University of Mons (UMONS) in collaboration with 15 partners, EPIC-Bee has the specific objective of organizing training activities. In total, 35 training courses, each lasting 5 days, with approximately 10-15 participants, are organized. To take account of the different levels of expertise, the project proposes a three-level training program: basic, intermediate and advanced. The training programme is designed to take into account differences in the wild bee faunas between Member States and biogeographical regions ; the 27 Member States are separated in 6 regions. The basic and intermediate trainings are organized at a regional level and the advanced at the European level. The basic training combines field and laboratory work to teach sampling techniques, specimen preparation, and identification of wild bee genera. The intermediate training prepares trainees to identify wild bees at the species level. The advanced training aims to form regional trainers by transferring knowledge from alpha-taxonomists. To support these training efforts, EPIC-Bee develops identification keys, establishes reference collections in all 27 Member States, and provides e-learning tools through the Pollinator Academy.