ABSTRACT
The Bumblebee Specialist Group (BBSG) is one of more than 130 International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Specialist Groups. One of the principal tasks of the Bumblebee Specialist Group is to make assessments of bumblebees for the IUCN Red List, which is the main global reference for assessing the extinction risk of species. The IUCN unlike other conservation organizations is unique in that it is a network of states, government agencies, international nongovernmental organizations, national nongovernmental organizations or other affiliates of governments and NGO member organizations. The Bumblebee Specialist Group is a part of the mission and working through the IUCN Red List focuses on the conservation efforts towards the important group of pollinators. The IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria have been used to look at the conservation status of the bumblebees of Western and Central Europe considering only their ranges within Europe, through the Status and Trends of European Pollinators (STEP) project.
