Plummeting insect numbers

I'm not convinced that we need to eat vegan to save the planet. We could eat meat if we raised the animals humanely (outside, fed on grass - actually gives us healthier meat) and just raised less of them (and ate less meat). This would give us: less slurry, less methane, and more grain planted for humans to eat and not animals. And if we all ate less, generally, there would be no obesity crisis. Does anyone-else remember when a chicken was a real treat on a Sunday? Now, people expect it in a sandwich every day, and the birds are raised in terrible conditions to meet the demand for cheap food (also very polluting for the environment). We need to eat less meat; we don't need to become vegetarian or vegans. Just my opinion.

Culag I meant to say, when and where is this programme on global population with Chris Packham on?

Anyone who had difficulty getting to the Extinction Rebellion site - there's another link at the bottom of the page. Lots of events going on. They made the news.... a few months back.

And the BBC article I linked to, having hovered at 10. 8, 9 has now dropped out of their Most Read list. Heading the TV news tonight - goalkeeper's death.

CardiffJaguar you're right. Use plenty of our native wildflowers that our insects depend on so much. They also depend on others as well. Although not great bees love Himalayan Balsam. I keep bees and I know when they're working it because they come back with a white stripe down their backs. Garden organically, forget pesticides and let nature take it's course. Read the book Wilding, can't remember who wrote it but it's about a farm they left to go wild and it's amazing.

I have a large wild area in my garden. Look out of your window and, if it's mostly slabs or decking, do something about tomorrow. One good thing will come out of the unfortunate insects' extinction though and that will be the demise of the human race. Hopefully, that will happen before we have the technology to escape from this planet and ruin another one!

AlieOxon Chris Packham's programme on population is to be an episode of the Horizon series, but I'm afraid I can't find out when it will be shown. He is a Patron, along with many other well know people, of Population Matters. A group I am thinking of joining.
It's good to read of several posters also concerned about this. The trouble is the politicians think there are no votes in it, so its up to us to make a noise!

Let the nettles, daisies and dandelions grow.
I think we're conditioned to think a garden has to have a lawn and because we get tired of mowing them, we end up laying concrete slabs. We should retrain our aesthetics and learn to love weeds..

It breaks my heart to see how many gardens around us have been paved over and fenced off ,like a sterile box.No shrubs,no hedges .The worst I've seen recently is a garden with a plastic ivy and plastic flowers.!We are lucky to have a large garden and we keep bees,have hawthorn and beech hedges and a wild area.
Also upset that the fields nearby bordering a lovely wood are about to be bulldozed despite nearby brownfield sites remaining derelict and undeveloped.
If everyone made some small tweaks to their lifestyle,eat less meat,help local wildlife,fly only when essential and stop littering for example the planet might stand a chance.Unfortunately ,sadly too many people are unwilling to change habits ,and it's incredibly selfish and short sighted.

Washerwoman i think we may be neighbours. The last remaining field between our town and the city has a notice advertising it as planning permission received , ripe for development while empty units lie abandoned. Is it so much more difficult to build on brownfield sites?

Grammaretto. ??

We moved to a bungalow 2 years ago with a pretty but sterile garden. Full of exotic plants no good for insects. This year we are planting wildflowers, making a pond and letting half of the lawn grow long. I’m so excited about it.

Washerwoman don't be too upset, spiders and scorpions like rocky terrain. They can nip next door to feed then have their babies in the gaps between the paving stones. That is if they're not eating each other, which they seem to quite like to do!

More arable land is used for growing crops to feed livestock which could be used to feed humans. A plant based diet uses far less land, water and produces fewer emissions, so definitely better for the planet. People don’t want to give up food they are used to, but maybe some could be persuaded to eat less meat, every little helps.,

Heading the TV news tonight - goalkeeper's death.
Well, not just any goalkeeper - this was news.

The planet is still here to be saved and we will be hearing more.

Washerwoman that reminds me of when my dear MIL came to stay, had a wander round a garden and observed 'I do like a bit of a wild garden' (it wasn't actually meant to be like that, although we do have a hawthorn hedge!).

our garden - not a garden!

Its not as simple as planting flowers.
Car fumes affect insects ability to smell flowers..

Problem is today everyone is selfish and it is a consumer society. Drastic change in attitudes required. Planning laws need to prevent people concreting over gardens. We need to encourage wildflowers, trees and hedges. Vegan diet is hugely important also as uses a lot less energy - crops and water - and will slow global warming. We need to eat organic. And we need to buy less stuff and use housing more efficiently.

What about people who aren't able to tend their garden?
That is going to become more and more prevalent as we live longer.

I have recently downsized, and now have no garden. My house is on the market, and I do worry that whoever buys it will tidy up the large wild garden, or even, horror of horrors, pave it! It was very good for insects, though even so there were noticeably fewer than there used to be. I wouldn’t have dreamt of using pesticides.

I haven't a garden, but if I had one I couldn't manage, I'd pave it if needs be.

We sold a house that had borders full of old fashioned perennials, roses and shrubs that were good for bees and insects. The people who bought it were enchanted by it. Within three years, they had grubbed up every single plant and shrub and laid it entirely to lawn. Too much work I suppose, but it broke my heart. When we came here, there was nothing, a blank canvas, so we set out to do it again. It is still a work in progress, but we’re getting there.

Imm6 so pleased to hear that you are also going to try for a wild flower garden. Did you know that you need to get rid of the lawn grass first as the wildflowers canot compete with such strong grasses. We have researched it and there is so much more to it than just leaving it to do it's own thing so I think it is going to take some time to get it right but will be very worthwhile.
Last year our smallest DGS had a bright idea when he filled his planter tub with wild flower seeds and it was beautiful. He was so excited to see his mummy's bees busily visiting all the flowers and would sit watching them all for ages.

How lovely Synonymous
I agree it involves some preparation .
Years ago after advice from a naturalist friend, I raked away at a corner of the lawn and threw wild flower seeds over it.
It was very unscientific but I remembered I'd been told that yellow rattle was strong and would compete with the grasses. It did!
Otherwise the plants which survive are the red clover and primrose which come up every year and spread.

Everyone must stop thinking a garden should be tidy. Nature isn’t tidy. Fortunately our local council now plants wildflowers in their flower beds. It looks so much better than the old Victorian way of everything in neat rows. Thankfully many gardening programmes focus on wildlife now and it’s becoming a bit more mainstream. Hope it’s not too little too late!

I hope so too. Hadn't read that article, so I will pass it on to friends Lisagran

One of my bugbears (deliberate pun) is the way people in suburbia chop down trees and hedges and pave over gardens. A neighbour told me her reason for having two beautiful trees felled (they were a long way from the house so no shade problem or root damage) as "they were messy with all the leaves dropping and the birds sit in them and wake us up in the morning.." It made me so angry that I had to walk away. A year later the lawn and perennial shrubs were gone and the whole lot became a bare parking area. She did however have a massive (and I mean enormous!) satellite dish erected to the front of her house.

I had to create a parking space too but ensured as much as possible of the front garden had green planted areas and we took the drive around the lovely trees at the bottom of the garden.

OH and I moved and bought a house together. We have a part of the garden given over to wild flowers and a mini orchard and OH only uses organic products and fertilisers. Everything we use that is compostable goes into the garden bins. Last summer I had a lovely time in the garden with GD making two insect hotels and we feed the birds and provide mini pond areas in the garden for wildlife. I asked for a birdbath for Christmas and got one.

That makes only a tiny difference as destruction is on a large scale, but if everyone was aware of the threat humans are creating in the natural world we would change our ways.