Climate demo with a sting in the tail
Activists highlight worldwide insect decline
Climate change activists brought a buzz to Stirling’s city centre on Saturday by highlighting the dramatic decline in insect numbers around the world.
The organisers were hoping to educate passersby on the disastrous implications this will have on all ecosystems on Earth that are dependent upon them.
Butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, and dung beetles are amongst the most at risk, along with freshwater insects such as stoneflies, caddisflies and mayflies.
The most recent State of Nature report showed once again the poor health of our natural world, with 41 per cent of our wildlife in long term decline, including two-thirds of our butterflies and a third of our moths.
A collation of 73 studies found that the rate of local insect extinction was happening eight times faster than that of birds and mammals. More than 97 per cent of wildflower meadows in the UK and 17 species of bees are now considered ‘extinct’ from parts of eastern England, one of the richest habitats for bees.
Overall, 76 per cent of the UK’s resident and regular migrant butterfly species have declined in the past 40 years.
Local activist Mandy Cairns said: “Last year, the world failed to meet any of the United Nations targets to protect nature. This is catastrophic for the health of our planet and all of its inhabitants, including us.
“Insects form the bedrock of all of Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems. They pollinate our food crops, recycle excrement, leaves and corpses and keep our soil healthy by aerating it and recycling plant matter into vital nutrients that are essential for the growth of the majority of plants and trees.
“In short, our world would grind to a halt without insects.”
Another campaigner, ecologist Nick Trull, said: “Our insects are in urgent need of support, with catastrophic declines being recorded across the globe. In Germany, for instance, three quarters of flying insects were reported to have disappeared over the past 30 years. The picture is similar in the UK, but the reality is that we don’t know the true scale of the losses as, globally, many species and groups are chronically understudied or haven’t been studied at all.”
Insects are facing an onslaught of attacks. Climate change and air pollution, habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticides and light pollution are all key drivers of these declines.
Mandy added: “We need to change our perception of what a garden should look like and embrace wildflowers and long grasses and general untidiness. If we can view our garden through the eyes of insects and transform it into a bountiful banquet for them and a safe place for them to raise their young, we could begin to reverse this insect decline.
“In November, Scotland will host the global climate talks (COP26) and it would be hypocritical of us in this country to demand that other countries make space for nature when we ourselves are living in one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. We need to value nature more and stop the irreversible loss of Earth’s precious insect diversity on which we all depend.”
The activists say anyone hoping to find more ways to help insects could join Buglife and sign the petition started by the Pesticide Action Network to end the use of pesticides in urban areas and gardens (see https://petition.parliament.uk/ petitions/590309). You can also join local groups such as Treelink Stirling and On The Verge and help create more wildlife and insect friendly places in your area.