Los Alamos Nature Center screens film on declining pollinators

A free screening at the Los Alamos Nature Center Planetarium will give residents a close look at why pollinators matter to backyard gardens, native landscaping and the county’s wider habitat goals. The Pajarito Environmental Education Center will show The Little Things That Run the World on Thursday, June 25, from 6 to 7:45 p.m. at 2600 Canyon Road, in partnership with Bee City Los Alamos.

The 2025 documentary runs 105 minutes and was directed by Doug Hawes-Davis and Dru Carr. Its focus is the global decline of flying insects, a group that makes up three-quarters of all species on Earth and helps keep ecosystems functioning. The film uses interviews with scientists, gardeners, farmers and insect enthusiasts to examine why the decline is happening and what people are doing to push back.

That message fits Los Alamos County’s own Bee City framework. The county’s Bee City resolution says pollinators are responsible for the reproduction of almost 90% of the world’s flowering plant species and notes that the United States has more than 3,600 species of native bees. It also says pollinator-friendly habitat should be built with mostly native wildflowers, grasses, vines, shrubs and trees that bloom in succession, with little or no pesticide use and with nesting and overwintering sites built in.

The local stakes go well beyond one evening at the planetarium. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35% of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says insect pollination services contribute more than $34 billion annually to U.S. agricultural crops, while the U.S. Geological Survey has tied pollinator declines to climate change, pesticide use and habitat loss. In Los Alamos County, that makes pollinator habitat part of the same conversation as home landscaping, neighborhood plantings and the health of recovering natural areas.

Bee City Los Alamos, which is affiliated with Bee City USA and the Xerces Society, has been building that conversation through native plantings, pesticide reduction and habitat creation. The group also maintains a community iNaturalist project called Native Plants and Pollinators in Los Alamos County. For residents who attend the screening, the immediate takeaways are practical: plant more native species and reduce pesticide use. Those steps, paired with nesting cover and overwintering space, are the simplest way to turn concern about declining insects into habitat on the ground.