Our insects are not doing well. Currently, 1 percent of it disappears every year, both within us and worldwide. The number of insects has halved in the last 50 years. A disaster for our nature that desperately needs these little critters. For example, they pollinate plants, they are food for many animals and they clean up all kinds of dead material. So time for action. That is why HLN and Natuurpunt are launching the ‘insect summer‘. To digitally capture and map our insects together with the whole of Flanders.
Our planet has been crawling with insects for millions of years. There are 1.4 billion insects for every person who walks the earth. You will therefore encounter them in every environment, from snowy mountains to sweltering deserts. There are an estimated 5.5 million different species worldwide. That corresponds to 80 percent of all animal species. In our country, that number is around 25,000. The majority of these are hymenoptera: bees, wasps and ants.
When you hear those numbers you probably think: that’s a lot. But actually, things are not going so well with our little friends. Since the industrial revolution, 10 percent of insect species have already disappeared. Currently, 40 percent of species are in decline and one in three is even endangered. And not only their diversity disappears, but also their numbers. This is happening at an alarming rate. We lose an estimated 1 percent of our insects each year.
In Flanders, scientists have not yet systematically mapped the population of insects over several years. But some recent studies follow the global trend. In Limburg, for example, scientists observed a 75 percent decrease in the number of ground beetles between 1999 and 2021. With the aid of the Red Lists you can look up the status of a particular insect in Flanders. For example, the argus butterfly, formerly a fairly common butterfly, has become virtually extinct in recent years.
Wim Veraghtert, insect expert at Natuurpunt, confirms that the insect crisis has not left Flanders untouched either. “Our insects are really not doing well. Based on local research and international studies, we estimate that we have lost half of our insects in 50 years. In the 1980s you still had to scrub very hard to wash the insects off the license plate and windscreen of your car, now you hardly have any work. Insect loss is dramatic. Also this spring we see very low numbers of butterflies and other species. We urgently need to reverse this trend, because insects play a crucial role in biodiversity and our ecosystem.”
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Insects disappearing is indeed not good news. There are insects that have a negative impact on humans, such as disease-carrying mosquitoes. But with the majority of insects we have a neutral or even positive relationship. In fact, they are essential to the world around us. Insects form the basis of the animal kingdom’s food chain. If they disappear, so will all the species that depend on them. Something that scientists have already noticed in the bird population.
In addition, insects pollinate more than 3/4th of our agricultural crops and an even higher number of plant species. In our country alone, the added economic value of those pollinators is, according to scientists, more than 250 million euros. Finally, insects are natural pest control agents and recycle nutrients by removing dead animals and plants.
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The reason for the disappearance of our six-legged friends? Most insects are under pressure because their habitat is undergoing drastic changes. Pieces of nature are shredded and disappear. And what remains often decreases in quality. In addition, they are also plagued by all kinds of pollution, ranging from artificial light to pesticides. Finally, a changing climate also has an impact on our insects. There are the extreme weather conditions, but also the advance of unwanted exotics such as the Asian hornet.
So our insects need our help. The better we know them, the better we can help them. That is why HLN and Natuurpunt are launching the ‘insect summer’ together. To find out how our insects are doing in Flanders. Together with you, we want to map out which insects are crawling or flying around in your garden or neighbourhood. If you see an insect, catch it digitally with your smartphone. All information about how this works can be found on the insect summer page. So this summer the motto is: don’t whack, but text.
LOOK. Join HLN in the insect summer
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