The troubling falls in insect numbers in Kent has been highlighted once again by the 2023 Bugs Matter citizen science survey published today. The new report reveals that the abundance of flying insects sampled on vehicle number plates has fallen by a staggering 89% since 2004.
Conservation charities Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife have launched the Bugs Matter 2023 Survey, introducing a new virtual ‘splatometer’ to measure insect splats on number plates as a measure of insect abundance. This ground-breaking initiative aims to measure the alarming decline in insect numbers repeatedly reported across the UK and the globe.
Conservationists have described the outlook in Kent as "alarming", with the county's reduction in insect numbers higher than the national average.
The end of the school summer holidays saw the conclusion of this year’s national insect survey, Bugs Matter, on 31 August. Led by conservation charities Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife, the annual call to collaborate with citizen scientists across the UK generates crucial data regarding how national insect numbers are faring. Bugs Matter, based on the “windscreen phenomenon”, is one of the UK’s few long-term citizen science surveys of flying insect abundance, generating important data.
A citizen-science survey, led by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife, has found that the abundance of flying insects in Kent has plummeted by over 70% over the last 17 years; highlighting a worrying trend and the crucial need for insect-focussed conservation research, nationwide.
Vehicle drivers and passengers asked to count bugs squashed on registration plates after an essential journey from 1st June.
This jewel wasp is a species new to Britain and new to Kent, found on our reserves and most likely enabled by a changing climate – we always think of climate change as bad, but as species are pushed out of their continental range and expand north, they have to find stepping stones of habitat further north or go extinct. We are going to lose species to climate change, but also gain them.
