12 February 2009
The UK Government commemorates Darwin with the ‘Darwin Initiative’ a fund for international nature conservation. But the little animals he loved are not well catered for. This year only one project specifically relating to invertebrates was included in the 74 projects short-listed by the ‘Darwin Initiative’.
 Roger Key.jpg) |
| A species of beetle collected by Darwin - Bombardier beetle
(Brachinus crepitans) © Roger Key |
Matt Shardlow, Director of Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust said “Darwin loved bugs and understood their critical importance supporting life on earth. Currently society invests a pathetic amount of money into conserving these natural riches; without sufficient Government funding we have to depend on the generosity of individuals to save the small things that run the world.”
Darwin - a bug man
Charles Darwin, although now remembered for proposing the process of evolution, was primarily a bug man. His personal passions ran strongest for beetles "Whenever I hear of the capture of rare beetles, I feel like an old war-horse at the sound of a trumpet" he once exclaimed. His two main study areas, on which he published authoritatively and extensively, were barnacles and the pollination of flowers by insects. Darwin also produced a seminal work establishing the important role of earthworms in soil formation and fertility, he concluded “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organised creatures.”
Funds diverted to the furry, feathery and flowery
About 250 species of beetle have not been seen in the UK for 35 years, bees are disappearing and we have no idea if earthworm populations are coping with modern, intensive agriculture. Only a tiny amount of money gets channelled into nature conservation, and only a minute fraction of this then finds its way into conserving invertebrates, the majority is siphoned off to conserve the much smaller numbers of the furry, feathery and flowery.
Buglife is the only organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates. If you would like to help protect bugs and their habitats support Buglife by joining online for as little as £18 per year click here.
