Charity warns of ‘catastrophic’ decline in insect numbers
Without bugs, experts caution, life on earth ‘would simply collapse’
Wiping fewer splattered insects off our cars than we did 15 years ago would be considered by many to be a positive thing. But a conservation charity is in fact warning it could signal potentially catastrophic consequences, as a study shows the number recorded in Kent has dropped by half since 2004. Experts are raising awareness of the importance of insects to our ecosystems, insisting that without them, life on earth “would simply collapse”. A project by the Maidstone-based Kent Wildlife Trust has looked at the resources and services provided by animals, plants, and the environment, and the way they interact with each other and benefit society. It also used an innovative insect sampling method, carried out by members of the public, to assess the difference in Kent’s insect abundance, at two points in a 15-year timeframe. Conservation evidence manager Dr Paul Tinsley-Marshall
‘We work together to understand the causes of insect loss, halt and reverse them, and secure a sustainable future’
said: “The methodology is based on the ‘windscreen phenomenon’, a term given to the observation that people tend to find fewer insects squashed on the windscreens of their cars now, compared to several decades ago.
“This effect has been ascribed to major global declines in insect abundance.”
People were asked last year to record the number of insects squashed on their car registration plate, and it was found there were 50% fewer ‘splats’ than in 2004, when a similar survey was led by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The drop, from an average of 0.2 ‘splats’ per mile, to 0.1, mirrors patterns widely reported by other organisations, but the trust says more data is needed to definitely constitute a decline, as this study is purely based on observations from two points in time.
Dr Tinsley-Marshall said: “Through projects like Bugs
Matter, Wild about Gardens, Bee Roads and Roadside Nature Reserves, we work together to collate data, understand the causes of insect loss, halt and reverse them, and secure a sustainable future for insect life and for ourselves.”
To reverse the apparent decline, wildlife trusts are asking people to reduce the use of pesticides in homes, workplaces and on farms, and create more insect-friendly habitats in towns, cities and the countryside.
More volunteers are also being sought to take part in this year’s Bugs Matter survey, for further information, contact Alana Skilbeck via email alana.skilbeck@ kentwildlife.org.uk