Debrecen4U May 22, 2026

Zoo Debrecen Hosts Conference on Vital Ecosystem Players

To mark World Bee Day on 20 May, pollinating insects were the focus this year at the 6th Debrecen Applied Entomology Conference, where researchers and lecturers from the University of Debrecen, along with practical specialists, presented their research findings and discussed the most pressing issues in entomology.

Once again hosted in the heart of the Great Forest by Zoo Debrecen, the event was first organised in 2021 by the Institute of Plant Protection of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management at the University of Debrecen. It aims to create a forum for presenting applied entomological research conducted in the Carpathian Basin and to provide opportunities for professional dialogue and cooperation. For the first four years, the conference was held online, but thanks to growing interest and the demand for in-person meetings, it was organised as a physical event in 2025 and continued in that format this year.

“Insects are always somewhat neglected at various nature conservation, agricultural and other conferences. That is why we chose a different approach: we placed insects at the centre and built the practically significant topics around them. One of the most important positive outcomes of the event is the personal presence, thanks to which specialists are not merely listening to presentations one after another, but can genuinely consult face to face and look towards the future together,” highlighted Antal Nagy, university professor at the University of Debrecen’s Institute of Plant Protection and chairman of the conference organising committee.

Szabolcs Szanyi, assistant lecturer at the institute and co-chairman of the organising committee, emphasised in his welcome speech that every year the conference has had a particular thematic focus. “This year, bees became the focus in order to draw attention to pollination as an ecosystem service, through which these insects produce tangible results for us, such as various fruits. Due to climate change and other human activities, pollinator populations are decreasing year by year. Studies show that nearly 86 per cent of flowering plants require some form of pollinator and, although bees are the first insects that come to mind as pollinators, we should not forget about the activities of other insect orders, such as butterflies and moths active during both the day and night,” he explained.

Opening the conference, Dean László Stündl emphasised the importance of biodiversity. “The world of insects is one of the most colourful on Earth, and many of its representatives are highly useful. These often unnoticed living creatures all affect our lives either directly or indirectly. Everyone thinks that only bees make life on Earth possible, but fortunately there are others that can help with this too: the ‘unpopular animals,’ such as shield bugs, mosquitoes and their companions, which make everyday life more difficult for urban residents. Professional events such as this also contribute to understanding environmental changes: they draw attention to the nature of the living world around us, the changes taking place, and how positive processes can be supported or negative ones halted,” he said.

László Stündl also requested that conference conclusions be shared with the public in an accessible way, thereby serving the university’s third mission activity, education and outreach.

The first lecture of the conference was delivered by zoo educator Zsuzsanna Serbán under the title Our Zoo’s Role in the Protection of Pollinators and in Shaping Public Awareness. “In 2025 we joined an international LIFE project aimed at protecting pollinating insects. This is an awareness-raising project through which we are trying to bring the protection of pollinators closer to people. The goal is for visitors – especially young people – to get to know and appreciate these living creatures, learn to recognise pollinators, and understand what they themselves can do to increase pollinator populations in their own environment. Our cooperation with the university is also extremely useful within this project, since they possess entomological expertise that complements our own work very well,” she explained.

Beyond pollinators, the programme of the forum also covered many other areas of entomology: topics included the reproductive biology of pest owlet moths, faunistic and biogeographical research, forest protection issues, and the application of modern technologies based on artificial intelligence. The conference once again demonstrated that entomology is not merely a narrow professional field, but a key scientific discipline for agriculture, nature conservation and society as a whole.

The conference was jointly organised by the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management of the University of Debrecen, the Faculty of Science and Technology, Zoo Debrecen, HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, and the Plant Protection Working Committee of the Agricultural Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Debrecen Regional Committee. The organisers aim to elevate the conference to an international level in the near future.

Source: dehir.hu | Photo credit: Pixabay