Butterfly Conservation have serious concerns about the threats to butterflies and other insects. Almost a third of Europe's butterflies are in decline and nearly 1 in 10 species is threatened with extinction. The European Red List also shows that 14% of dragonflies and 11% of those beetles that rely on decaying wood are at risk of extinction. Loss of habitat is stated to be a cause, such as loss of traditionally farmed grasslands, woodlands and wetlands.
Loss of biodiversity I think is as important an issue as Climate Change. In fact the Rio Summit in 1992 put most emphasis on the biodiversity issue, I remember being at the Natural History Museum and hearing the scientists speak who had been at that summit. Natural ecosystems and the species within them are a vital life support system for the planet. These species and ecosystems are becoming fragmented and disappearing, perhaps without most of us noticing. But we really do not know what we are losing, just how these ecosytems support us in terms of air that we breathe, pollinating our crops, and probably in many ways we don't understand.
I think for our own wellbeing it is important to connect with the natural world around us, it makes us feel better and increases our awareness of what is going on. It's very easy in our culture to live in a virtual world, where what we see and hear through electronic media seems more real than what is outside our own door.
Just making our own garden a haven for wildlife can be very rewarding. A quick walk around my own garden can reveal slow worms, butterflies, signs of a hedghog or fox, a robin having a drink, the changes in the flowers. It is easy to grow the right plants, allow a few native species in odd corners, provide shelter and not be obsessively tidy so that wildlife can share your garden.
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