Bugs are our friends

Why we need to conserve invertebrates: “If we and the rest of the back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear, the world’s ecosystems would collapse.” – David Attenborough, naturalist

At least 65% of all species on the planet are invertebrates. There are more than 32,000 terrestrial and freshwater and 7,000 marine species in the UK alone, and many are critically endangered. Bugs are also important to human life and to the world as a whole.
• They are an important part of the food chain, providing essential food to most birds and mammals.
• They are integral to our ecosystem. For example, many wild flowers would be lost without insect pollination.
• Many species are yet to be discovered. Some might benefit humanity in areas such as biological pest control or medicine.

Just how threatened are invertebrates? Habitat fragmentation, intense agricultural practices, climate change and many other human activities are damaging invertebrate populations.

One of the problems facing invertebrate conservationists is our lack of knowledge on their exact status. Perhaps this is unsurprising given that there are 40,000 species and only a few hundred experts who are studying them. However what we do know presents a very worrying picture.
• Worldwide, an estimated 570,000 species could be extinct by 2100.
• The British Red Data Book for Insects, published in 1987, includes 1786 species whose continued existence is threatened - and that is just for the best known groups.
• Almost a third of all bees and wasps are under threat.
• Over 70% of butterflies are declining significantly.
• It is estimated that at least 15% of the total UK invertebrate fauna is under threat = 4,500 species in decline.
• Species such as the Short-haired bumblebee and the Essex emerald moth have become extinct in the last 15 years.

Most conservation organisations recognise the problem. Buglife specializes in publicising it and in encouraging people to do something about it.

What you can do

1. Do a survey in your garden. Look for
Scarlet malachite beetles
Oil beetles
Glow worms
Harlequin ladybirds
Stag beetles
Noble chafers
Find out how at Bugwatch: www.buglife.org.uk

2. Take part in a beewatch, spotting big bumblebees: www.bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk/surveys.htm

3. Join in national moth night: www.nationalmothnight.info

4. Move up from insects to birds, and take part in Garden Birdwatch, a year-round project that gathers important information on how different species of birds use gardens and how this use changes over time: www.bto.org/gbw

Also check out the Species of Conservation Concern list, which contains information on the designation and status of UK species.

Increase your Carbon Fruitprint


You can offset your carbon emissions by paying for something which will reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Your offset may pay for a tree to be plated, an emissions certificate to be withdrawn from circulation or a wind generator to be constructed. But there are serious flaws with carbon offsetting – it may just be paying for something that would happen anyway; the unit cost of CO2 may be too low for all sorts of reasons; or what is being done may not take the carbon out of the atmosphere quickly enough or permanently. Even if your money is paying for something beneficial to take place, you need to reduce as well as offset. The CO2 crisis will only be solved if people everywhere start emitting less of the gas. So offset if you wish; but reduce as much as you can.

If you want to offset, here's an imaginative and very simple way of offsetting with a lot of benefits...

Mangoes don't just taste great, they can also save the planet! As each mango tree grows quickly in its tropical environment it absorbs carbon dioxide, cooling the atmosphere. 

But it gets better. By offsetting your carbon emissions through the Teach A Man To Fish project you will help schools in Kenya plant Mango Orchards and teach students how growing fruit trees can reduce poverty.

Each harvest time income generated from the orchard will be reinvested in the school - from buying books, and repairing roofs to subsidizing fees for HIV and AIDS orphans. Which means your one-off donation will bear fruit year after year after year.

Offset today:
1 tonne of CO2 = a European flight or one year’s London travel = £15 offset donation
2.5 tonnes of CO2 = a long-haul flight = £37.50 offset donation
3.5 tonnes of CO2 = one year’s car usage = £50 offset donation

Then money really will go to planting Mango trees, and will help change people’s lives as well as suck CO2 from the atmosphere. This is an imaginative solution developed by Teach A Man To Fish: www.teachamantofish.org.uk/carbonfruitprint