[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/7390\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EPeople have started to care about insects. Now we need action, say experts\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor David Kleijn, an ecologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, is talking about the change in people\u2019s feelings towards insects. Traditionally, the relationship has been far from a comfortable one, but Prof. Kleijn notes signs that things are improving.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018When I\u2019m talking about insects with people from the general public, they\u2019re generally positive and think insects are important,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA catalyst he pinpoints is the surge in reports of catastrophic declines in insect populations, attributing the turning point to a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0185809\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Elandmark study\u003C\/a\u003E in 2017 led by Dr Caspar Hallmann, an ecologist at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEstimating a shocking decline of over three-quarters of flying insects in German nature reserves within the past three decades, it hit the headlines and seemed to capture the public imagination through relatable imagery in media reports such as the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-41670472\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003E\u2018windscreen phenomenon\u2019\u003C\/a\u003E, whereby far fewer insects have hit car windscreens with the passing decades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA plethora of other studies have followed that boost the body of evidence, including research on the decline in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1002\/ece3.5236\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Einsects killed on windscreens\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut even before, public perception had been shifting via increasing acknowledgment of essential functions provided by insects, from pollination to breaking down waste.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Kleijn notes the change from when he started researching pollinators two decades ago: \u2018Then, nobody was interested in these bees and everybody was interested in the birds and plants; now, it\u2019s the other way round.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPublic consciousness\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYet Prof. Kleijn says this greater understanding needs to translate into wider public consciousness of how everyday activities may have a knock-on effect for biodiversity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe points to the rising number of paved gardens and pristine roadside verges he sees that eschew biodiversity for neatness in the Netherlands. \u2018People are worried about insects, and like insects now, but still they turn their gardens into stone deserts and they don\u2019t see the connection.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Kleijn leads a wide-ranging pan-EU project called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/862480\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003ESHOWCASE\u003C\/a\u003E, which seeks to communicate better the benefits of insect biodiversity by connecting with farmer and citizen scientist networks, science communications specialists and nature conservation NGOs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe focus is on targeting the agricultural sector, seen as a major threat to biodiversity through agricultural intensification and a key avenue for gaining wider public acceptance given the huge expanse of land it uses and role at the heart of the food industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EActivities will include speaking at meetings of farmers\u2019 collectives, hosting webinars and using social media channels, as well as getting farmers and the public actively involved in investigating biodiversity through methods such as \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.wur.nl\/en\/newsarticle\/Bringing-together-Agriculture-and-Biodiversity.htm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Ecounting butterflies and bees on farmland\u003C\/a\u003E, and a contest to vote on their favourite roadside verge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPart of SHOWCASE will explore whether people involved in monitoring biodiversity gain an increased affinity towards nature. \u2018Everybody assumes that when you\u2019re exposed to biodiversity, you become more positive towards it. But this still needs to be tested,\u2019 said Prof. Kleijn.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team will assess whether the attitudes of farmers in Spain, Sweden and the UK change when they use a modified version of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.vlinderstichting.nl\/vlindermee\/app-vlinder-mee\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EVlindermee app\u003C\/a\u003E, developed by Dutch Butterfly Conservation, to log butterfly species. \u2018We are using them as an umbrella species,\u2019 added Prof. Kleijn. \u2018If (users) become interested in those, then probably they will appreciate other species as well.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe emphasised that new ways are needed for communicating on biodiversity that also take into account feedback on people\u2019s needs, with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cell.com\/trends\/ecology-evolution\/fulltext\/S0169-5347(18)30273-8?rss=yes\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Escientists\u2019 focus on long-term environmental outcomes often at odds with farmers\u2019 drive for profits\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENarratives\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We\u2019re starting to think about the narratives to connect to different stakeholders,\u2019 said Prof. Kleijn. \u2018Should we talk primarily about money, or about the beauty of nature? And how does it differ between countries?\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne strategy is to start not from the angle of how useful different insects are to people, says Prof. Kleijn, \u2018but how beautiful they are, how fascinating they are, and really telling their stories\u2019 to get people interested before addressing the benefits they bring \u2013 an approach his team recently used to communicate the reappearance of the brown-banded carder bee (\u003Cem\u003EBombus humilis\u003C\/em\u003E) in the southern Netherlands.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@alignleft@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Prof. Kleijn\u0027s team focused on the beauty and fascination of the brown-banded carder bee when communicating about their reappearance in the southern Netherlands, rather than just focusing on their utility. Image credit - Arnstein Staverl\u00f8kk, licensed under CC BY 3.0 \u0022 height=\u0022681\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/bombus_humilis_illiger_1806.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022Prof. Kleijn\u0027s team focused on the beauty and fascination of the brown-banded carder bee when communicating about their reappearance in the southern Netherlands, rather than just focusing on their utility. Image credit - Arnstein Staverl\u00f8kk, licensed under CC BY 3.0 \u0022 width=\u00221024\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EProf. Kleijn\u0027s team focused on the beauty and fascination of the brown-banded carder bee when communicating about their reappearance in the southern Netherlands, rather than just focusing on their utility. Image credit - Arnstein Staverl\u00f8kk, licensed under CC BY 3.0\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESHOWCASE hopes to back this up by unearthing \u2018win-win\u2019 scenarios, whereby farming approaches aimed at improving biodiversity can be shown to lead to equal or better material gains for farmers, while also benefiting ecosystems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Kleijn points to an example already uncovered by other researchers, which showed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/royalsocietypublishing.org\/doi\/10.1098\/rspb.2015.1740\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Eno adverse impact on yield\u003C\/a\u003E over time when cropland at field edges was replaced with wildlife habitat.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of his studies showed not only \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/ele.13150\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Esimilar returns on investment\u003C\/a\u003E in leeks through managing wild pollinators compared with focusing on plant quality, but also that yield rose with greater diversity of species even when dozens were already present.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKnock-on effects\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It was an interesting finding, and totally surprising to me,\u2019 said Prof. Kleijn. \u2018We\u2019re not talking about the difference between two and four species, because then I have an understanding of what they could do.\u2019 This, he said, backs up the importance of getting people involved in conserving species, as there may be all sorts of still-unknown knock-on effects of additional biodiversity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYet Prof. Kleijn emphasises that communication on biodiversity is ultimately about finding ways to relay more than just immediate monetary returns. The message needs to come across, he says, that \u2018if you\u2019re concerned about the environment that you leave to your kids and grandchildren, about your neighbours\u2019 health, and if you really want to produce a product that you\u2019re proud of, then this is the way to go.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Pedro Cardoso, an ecologist at the University of Helsinki in Finland, agrees that attitudes towards insects and other invertebrates have improved, and the recent influx of studies has \u2018triggered the alarm bells\u2019 \u2013 even if people still often associate them with pests or disease vectors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The public is more aware how important it is to keep healthy populations of everything, not only the big animals,\u2019 he said. That marks a change from a study he co-authored a decade ago, which noted a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0006320711002874?via%3Dihub#!\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Elack of knowledge among the general public\u003C\/a\u003E about the services provided by invertebrates among seven impediments to their protection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Even within scientists, something is changing,\u2019 said Dr Cardoso. \u2018Most researchers, even in conservation biology, are realising that insects do exist.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESnapshot\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe pointed to increased activity on public communication, including through museum exhibitions worldwide and the surge in citizen science activities such as \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nhm.ac.uk\/take-part\/citizen-science\/bioblitz.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003E\u2018bioblitzes\u2019\u003C\/a\u003E, which seek to provide a snapshot of species in a given area.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn his own \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/706482\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EBIODIV ISLAND-CONT\u003C\/a\u003E project, which focused on the similarly maligned spiders rather than insects, primary schoolchildren came to the Finnish Museum of Natural History located at the university \u2013 and at which Dr Cardoso is a curator \u2013 to learn about spiders and the project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe shift in attitudes to invertebrates, he said, has also been reflected in the 2018 launch of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/environment\/nature\/conservation\/species\/pollinators\/policy_en.htm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EEU\u2019s first-ever initiative on wild pollinators\u003C\/a\u003E to address their decline. \u2018It\u2019s just a small part of what\u2019s important, but it\u2019s a start,\u2019 said Dr Cardoso.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time, funding for invertebrates remains \u2018night and day\u2019 compared with the much higher amounts for vertebrates and may take time to filter through, he said. A recent study found a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/royalsocietypublishing.org\/doi\/10.1098\/rspb.2020.2166\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Edifference in investment by a factor of six\u003C\/a\u003E between 1992 and 2018 among animal-focused projects in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/easme\/en\/life\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EEU\u2019s Life programme\u003C\/a\u003E, equating to 468 times more per vertebrate species.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Cardoso does not call for specific quotas, but says there is a need to address the huge existing discrepancy, while it would be interesting to see a wide-scale study on how people\u2019s attitudes have changed in different countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018We also need to see the banning of the use of insects to scare and disgust contestants and audiences in reality TV shows.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Simon Leather, Harper Adams University, UK \u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBeyond pollinators\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Simon Leather, an entomologist at Harper Adams University in Newport, the UK, said he fears the world is still some way off understanding the importance of insect conservation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018There is growing momentum, but we need to see more investment,\u2019 he said. \u2018Funding and media attention, including popular TV programmes, is still very much vertebrate-focused \u2013 particularly mammals, which eat up a substantial proportion of research and charity funding,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, Prof. Leather refers to the overemphasis on language in the media such as \u2018killer bees\u2019 and \u2018murder hornets\u2019. \u2018We also need to see the banning of the use of insects to scare and disgust contestants and audiences in reality TV shows,\u2019 he added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe said much more training in entomological skills is also needed at universities, plus on ecology at secondary school level.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMeanwhile, Dr Hallmann, who co-authored the 2017 study, is encouraged that public engagement is improving and people have begun to really understand the importance of insects, but that this needs to go much further.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I believe people should be a lot more aware that no ecosystem can exist without insects, and that this extends well beyond what we have identified as \u201cecosystem services\u201d,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research in this article was funded by the EU. 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