Compassionate conservation begins in our back garden
COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATION BEGINS IN OUR BACK GARDEN
BORN FREE’S SARAH LOCKE EXPLAINS WHY NATIONAL INSECT WEEK WAS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO PUT COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATION INTO ACTION AND APPRECIATE ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
Last month, from 18th-24th June was National Insect Week and quite amazingly, in this time, I saw three stag beetles in three days!
Not so long ago, this observation may not have warranted a mention. But sadly, sightings of our British stag beetle Lucanus cervus are now noteworthy. Like many insects, they are in steep decline, mainly due to habitat loss and climate change. In some European countries, stag beetles are so rare, they have been Red listed.
But at Born Free, it is the belief that no animal should ever be too small to command our attention or our empathy, which makes us Compassionate Conservationists.
It would be easy to assume that the humble stag beetle is too small to warrant Born Free’s attention. After all, they are in competition with characters like King, the lion cub we helped rescue from a French apartment. However, every single insect, bird and animal is precious and within the office, I was not alone in my excitement.
A recent German study highlighted this extent of our insect decline. A simple malaise trap (a tent-like structure that’s made of netting) was used to capture and then measure the biomass of insects caught in it.
The study showed that the annual biomass of insects caught in the trap, over a 27 year period, had been reduced by 76% (Hallmann et al. 2017). The knock-on effect of insect decline to our birds and animals that rely on them is incalculable.
So what can you do? A number of forums have been set up record stag sightings, like the one by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species. By logging where you saw your stag beetles, you’re helping to build a national consensus – because not every act of Compassionate Conservation has to be elephant-sized to make a difference!