Biocultural Conservation of Wild Bees: A Review of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Veterinary Perspectives for Wildlife Conservation (2020–2026)

In recent years, wild bee decline has emerged as a major conservation challenge driven by interacting ecological, health-related, and socio-environmental pressures. Although Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) have long documented bee ecology, environmental change, and sustainable stewardship practices, their contribution remains insufficiently integrated into contemporary conservation and veterinary frameworks. This review evaluates the current evidence on how IKS can contribute to wild bee conservation and examines how these knowledge systems can be integrated with ecological and veterinary approaches within a One Health and One Welfare perspective. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature published primarily between 2020 and 2026, together with selected foundational studies where necessary, we synthesised evidence from ecology, ethnobiology, conservation science, and veterinary population health. Particular attention was given to studies documenting Indigenous observations of bee health, habitat quality, landscape management, nutritional ecology, disease ecology, and conservation governance. The reviewed literature indicates that IKS provide long-term ecological observations and adaptive management practices that complement scientific monitoring by identifying early indicators of environmental degradation and colony stress. Indigenous-managed landscapes frequently support greater habitat heterogeneity and more stable floral resources, highlighting nutritional ecology as a key pathway linking land-use practices with immune competence, stress tolerance, and population resilience. Disease ecology emerged as a second critical dimension, demonstrating that pathogen spillover at the managed–wild bee interface is primarily shaped by management intensity, colony density, and landscape characteristics rather than species boundaries alone. Across these domains, IKS and veterinary population-health approaches converge in emphasizing prevention, early detection of cumulative stress, and ecosystem-based management. These findings support the integration of Indigenous and scientific knowledge through collaborative governance and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)-based research partnerships. Recognising Indigenous-managed territories as valuable biocultural landscapes and extending health surveillance beyond managed Apis mellifera to include wild and stingless bees may strengthen evidence-based conservation strategies under integrated One Health and One Welfare frameworks.