INSECTAGEDDON

As a boy I would work on a local farm and help gather the harvest. This was during the early 1970s when chemicals were used in farming but the decline in the ecosystem then was not as obvious as it is now. When I first learned to drive, the front windscreen would be covered in squashed insects.

Fast forward to today and the situation is vastly different. The erasure of non-human life by farming is an ever more pressing issue. A recent study found that flying insects on German nature reserves have declined by 76% in 27 years. The most likely cause of this insectageddon is the pesticides on surrounding farmland.

A recent UN report showed that pesticides are not essential for food production. Since pesticides kill the pollinators on which crops depend, most farms might actually increase production if they used fewer chemicals.

We need global treaties on pesticide use, environmental impact assessments for the farming and fishing industry and firm rules based on these assessments.

Measures such as these will at least help humanity have some chance of making it through this century. I recommend reading

The History of Bees by Maja Lunde to give an insight into what the future may hold for our race.

Peter Bound Chairman, Shropshire Beekeepers’ Association Shrewsbury, Shropshire