Insects appeal to court for right to survival

Tuesday 18 November

The Court of Appeal is set to determine if the decision to allow the building of warehouses on West Thurrock Marshes was lawful. The hearing is the culmination of a three-year campaign by Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust to save the Essex marshes, home to many rare bumblebees, beetles, spiders and other little animals. Only two other sites in the UK are known to support a greater number of endangered invertebrates.

Distinguished jumping spider (Sitticus distinguendus) - this pretty little spider is found on just two sites in the UK one of which is West Thurrock Marshes. Both are under threat of development. © Peter Harvey

The plight of the insects is symptomatic of disappearing wildlife across the globe. Last week a cross-party Parliamentary report concluded that the UK Government would fail to meet its international obligation to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Matt Shardlow, Director of Buglife, believes that the UK should be leading by example: ‘We must save the endangered and irreplaceable wildlife of West Thurrock Marshes, otherwise what right do we have to ask other countries to protect their rainforests or coral reefs?’

Back in February Buglife lost its first High Court challenge when Justice Mitting declared that biodiversity protection legislation in the UK was ‘weak’ and judged that the Thurrock Development Corporation – the unelected planning authority – was right to over-ride national planning guidance and allow the marshes to be destroyed.

Brown-banded carder bee (Bombus humilis) - a rare bumblebee species, found on West Thurrock Marshes and officially recognised as a priority for conservation action. © Sam Ashfield

‘We believe that planning bodies should be taking much more care of our endangered species,’ says Matt Shardlow. ‘These threatened insects have been highlighted as priorities for Government conservation – just like the red squirrel, the otter and the skylark. If we want to keep a diverse, healthy and colourful environment we can’t simply protect the bigger, more glamorous plants and animals.’

To find out more about Buglife's campaign to save West Thurrock Marshes, click here