BECOME AN INSECT CHAMPION!
New report aims to halt decline of wildlife across the UK
The rapid decline of insect life has to be addressed before our ecosystems collapse, a new report has warned.
The Wildlife Trusts has published ‘Reversing the Decline of Insects’, which shows how people in all walks of society across the whole of the UK can take action to bring back insects and become an ‘insect champion'. In gardens, simple things that can be done include leaving part of a plot to go ‘wild’, growing more pollinator-friendly plants and making sure there are bug hotels or log piles to provide habitats for insects.
The report states there's ongoing evidence for insect declines, and the future of insects – and all life that depends on them – hangs in the balance, especially as future trade deals threaten to increase the use of insect-harming pesticides. It comes on the back of last year’s ‘Insect declines and why they matter’ report, which concluded that “the consequences are clear: if insect declines are not halted, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems will collapse, with profound consequences for human wellbeing”.
The Wildlife Trusts is calling on the government to reverse the decline of insects by setting an ambitious pesticide reduction target, not weakening UK pesticide standards through future trade deals and supporting farmers to adopt insect-friendly farming practices. In addition it wants to see a network of nature-rich areas covering at least 30 per cent of the UK and local councils creating more nature-rich places.
Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “In my lifetime, 41 per cent of wildlife species in the UK have suffered strong or moderate decreases in their numbers and insects have suffered most. This has had a huge effect on the rest of the natural world. The vital role that insects perform is undermined and everything that depends on them suffers, from hedgehogs to nightingales, wildflowers to wetlands. We’re calling on everyone to take action for insects and become an insect champion.”
Lead author of the report, Professor Dave Goulson of the University of Sussex, added: “If we get it right for insects we get it right for everything else. Insects are the canaries in the coal mine – their collapse is an alarm bell that we must not ignore. We all need to change this together.”
‘Reversing the Decline of Insects’ focuses on several examples of what can be done by everyone to halt and reverse this crisis. From the road verges of Stirling and Kent, to farms in Northern Ireland and Devon, the chalk streams of Wiltshire, and the urban green spaces of Lambeth and Manchester, it highlights some of the many people and projects that are making a real difference for insects.
And you can help, too: using peat-free compost, planting native trees and shrubs and encouraging wildlife with a boggy area or pond are other ideas that will help insects thrive in UK gardens.
l More can be found at www.wildlifetrusts.org.