t’s alarming at first glance to see an iconic beauty’s face and body crowded by bees. A closer look tells a more extensive story of the fragile balance between humans and the pollinating insects we depend on for so much of the food we consume.

Angelina Jolie posed for a stunning portrait for National Geographic to draw attention on World Bee Day to the urgent need to protect bees—and to a UNESCO-Guerlain program that trains women as beekeeper-entrepreneurs and protectors of natural bee environments around the world. Photographer Dan Winters, an amateur beekeeper, drew his inspiration from a famous 1981 Richard Avedon portrait of a bald California beekeeper, whose naked torso was covered in bees.

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Jolie was inspired by different visions: of bees as a requisite pillar of our food supply—one that’s under threat from parasites, pesticides, habitat loss, and climate change—and of a global network of women who will be trained to protect these essential pollinators.

The actor, director, and humanitarian activist joined me for an interview in Los Angeles to talk about the relationships among a healthy environment, food security, and women’s empowerment, and the estimated 20,000 species of bees, including 4,000 native to the United States. Shielding life-sustaining pollinators is a hurdle well within our grasp, she said.

“With so much, we are worried about around the world and so many people feeling overwhelmed with bad news,” Jolie said, “this is one [problem] that we can manage.”