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240710 | Insect numbers declining, Cornish lavender farmer says - BBC News

Concerns over declining insect
numbers

Tina Bessell standing in front of a field of lavender

Tina Bessell has noticed a drop in the number of pollinating insects at her lavender farm

 



John Danks
BBC News, South West

  • Published
    10 July 2024

A conservation
charity has said it has seen a drop in the number of insects this summer and warned it
could be part of an overall insect decline.

Andrew Whitehouse, from charity Buglife, said insect populations
"do fluctuate naturally" and the cool spring and wet winter may have had an
impact on numbers.

However he added
there is a "decline over a longer time" and it is a "real worry".

Tina Bessell, from Cornish Lavender
Farm in Perranporth, said she had also noticed a drop in the "sheer volume of
insects" this year.

 

A photo of a bee


A lavender farmer said she had noticed a decline in numbers

 



Ms Bessell said the lavender
field would normally be "teeming with all sorts of bees, different bugs,
butterflies, dragonflies."

She
added: "Normally the field would be buzzing, it just hums. We haven't had
that or on a few very early mornings but in general the sheer volume of
insects."

Buglife's Bugs
Matter survey found the number of insects squashed on car number plates had decreased
by 78% over the last 20 years.

Mr
Whitehouse said: "Insect populations do fluctuate naturally due to things like
the weather and we have had a cool Spring which may have had an impact but we're
also seeing a decline over a longer time and that's a real worry."

Bug splat survey shows
decline in insect numbers


https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/2048/cpsprodpb/9468/live/c1f192c0-0184-11e...
ba3a-012d8dd63f5e.jpg" alt="Hawkmoth" />Kent Wildlife Trust

The Bugs Matter survey has been carried out annually for 20 years



Stuart Maisner
BBC News, South East



  • 24 April 2024

Conservation research data has revealed a "troubling" fall in
insect numbers in Kent.

The
annual Bugs Matter survey recorded an 89% decline across the county over 20 years in
the number of dead insects on vehicle number plates after journeys.

The latest survey, led by the Kent Wildlife
Trust and the Buglife conservation charity, was completed by hundreds of volunteers in
Kent and across the UK.

A Kent
Wildlife Trust spokesperson said the findings were "terribly alarming" and
could have "devastating consequences".


https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/2048/cpsprodpb/7064/live/eaad1fe0-0184-11e...
ba3a-012d8dd63f5e.jpg" alt="Cardinal beetle" />Kent Wildlife Trust

Kent Wildlife Trust said insects are "critical" to the survival of
the planet

Since the first reference survey in 2004, an analysis of records
from nearly 26,500 journeys across the UK shows a continuing decrease in bug splats.

The number in 2023 saw a 78% drop
nationwide.

Insects are critical to
ecosystem functioning and services, according to Kent Wildlife Trust.

A spokesperson said: "They pollinate
crops, provide natural pest control, decompose waste and recycle nutrients, and
underpin food chains that support birds, mammals and other wildlife.

"Without insects, the planet's
ecological systems would collapse."

Dr Lawrence Ball, from Kent Wildlife Trust, said: "These results are
incredibly concerning and illustrate the scale of the crisis facing insect populations
in Kent and the UK.

"Insects
are critical to the survival of our planet as we know it - a world without them is a
shocking thought indeed.”