Why FairGrow shows so few pollinators
Around a test parcel near Lelystad in the Netherlands, 65 bee species have been recorded. FairGrow can show 3 of them today. This page shows why, and what we are doing about it.
What FairGrow sees, and what has actually been recorded
Each icon is one species. First you see the species we are allowed to show today. Then all species ever recorded around this parcel near Lelystad appear.
Source: GBIF, retrieved on 23 October 2026. Square 10kmE401N327 of the European 10 km grid (EEA) around a test parcel near Lelystad. Only records with coordinates and without known location issues. Butterflies: Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae, Riodinidae. Bees: Apidae, Andrenidae, Halictidae, Colletidae, Megachilidae, Melittidae, Stenotritidae. Hoverflies: Syrphidae.
The difference is the license
Bees, butterflies and hoverflies are mostly recorded by volunteers, on Observation.org (waarneming.nl in the Netherlands). Those records are public through GBIF, the global network for biodiversity data. They are published under the CC BY-NC license. NC stands for NonCommercial.
FairGrow is an initiative of EasyData B.V. We are a company dedicated to making data available. We want to put that expertise and our technical capabilities to active use, and that idea is where FairGrow came from.
Because EasyData is a company, we do not use CC BY-NC data without permission.
Today we only show records under open licenses (CC0 and CC BY). Around this parcel that is enough for birds and plants. For pollinators it is not.
Where the gap is
Butterflies
1 of 31 species
1 record under an open license against 13,629 under CC BY-NC.
Bees
3 of 65 species
4 records under an open license against 4,620 under CC BY-NC.
Hoverflies
8 of 77 species
12 records under an open license against 2,810 under CC BY-NC.
Birds and plants
Enough open data
216 bird species and 510 plant species, from sources such as eBird, the Dutch Vegetation Database and Naturalis.
Asking permission instead of leaving data out
We ask every publisher of CC BY-NC data in GBIF for permission, including Stichting Observation International, the organization behind Observation.org. Several publishers have already agreed.
Meanwhile the FairGrow bee database shows, for every country, which bees, hoverflies and butterflies occur, which crops they pollinate and when they fly. It is open to every grower with an account.
Until then we only show open data. A low number then means: little open data. It does not mean that few pollinators live around your parcel.
Even with permission, we only show counts per species and per 10 x 10 km square. No individual records, no exact locations and no observer names.
Do you manage pollinator data?
Would you like to help shape how growers can use this knowledge, or do you hold data that could help? We would be glad to hear from you.
Yes, I would like to help →