Could Insect Declines Lead To Social Collapse? | Aaron Bastani meets Dave Goulson

[@EcoSailor]

As a permaculturist and regenerative gardener, I'm rewilding our garden near Barry in south Wales. During my 1st summer there I've seen a Jersey Tiger butterfly and we have dragonflies because of the small pond. There were ladybugs everywhere. All around us every other house is surrounded by a virtual desert of either gravel, paving or close cropped lawns. Our attitude towards both private and public spaces needs to change.

[@queenvagabond8787]

What can I do? My garden is basically left wild and I don't use pesticides, but what about my neighbours? Are there positive changes I can make to my 'hands off' garden to help encourage insects?

[@EcoSailor]

@@queenvagabond8787 yes, you can plant berry bushes, fruit trees (in the UK, plums, apples, pears, raspberries, gooseberries currants, elder etc.) and sow wildflowers under and around them. Comfrey will also provide summer long pollen for bees and can be cut multiple times in one season and used as mulch or liquid fertiliser by just filling a bucket with leaves and topping up with water. Let sit in the sun or a greenhouse, if you have one, and in 4 days or so stir it and apply liberally wherever the garden needs feeding. Try creating a small pond either in the ground or in a barrel or old sink/bath. Put a solar aerator in it and plant water mint for the pollinators. Put native bluebells in the shady areas for next spring and other bulbs like daffodils for early colour. Build bug houses from bundles of twigs and leave the leaves when they fall. It takes a year or 2 to get the feel for a space, record the path of the sun, monitor rainfall etc. but leave any grass to go through a full growth cycle and only mow it in September. Some butterfly's life cycles need that long grass. Oh my goodness. Don't I ramble on about the things I love. 🤭 Use KZbin for researching permaculture and rewilding and be patient. The wild beauty of nature needs time to develop. Good luck and happy, low maintenance rewilding. 🌱🌿🌼🪻🌳🍄🍁🍂

[@goinblinddoggone]

We have a lot of relatively tiny oasis's scattered about the UK, but like you I'm surrounded by clipped grass, too few trees and meadows, monocultured arable land that isn't organic and busy roads within a mile or so.

[@goinblinddoggone]

​@@queenvagabond8787managed wildness is how. Check out the search facility for wildlife gardens 😊

[@heheheiamasuperstarcatgirl8485]

​@@queenvagabond8787make sure you have a lot of native plants, and a wide variety of them to increase biodiversity

[@simoningate2056]

Aaron - Congratulations - this was a very important interview. This year has been awful for butterflies in this country (more than likely this time due to the weather, so hopefully better next year), but changes in land use, massive fields of cereals and the loss of plants to help the pollinators and also the use of insecticides is a real issue. I do hope this gets seen by lots of people and that we can help improve the plight of bees, wasps, butterflies and other insects - we depend on them. Thanks for spending so much time in getting the issues across.

[@davs3208]

Finished watching this tonight. I have been watching Dave's videos for several months now. Before discovering Professor Goulson, I watched videos by Chris Baines, Joel Ashton, and others. I work for a Local Authority, and have been going against my traditional gardener indoctrination and looking to change our substantial parks and open spaces to be more useful for wildlife. I have always loved birds, and now see how all wildlife connect through food chains etc. This year, I have been learning more about bees thanks to Dave. Helping nature has given me a new, exciting and important purpose due to the alarming decrease in wildlife in general. I hope to work with community groups and schools to raise awareness and help them with wildlife friendly projects. Dave is an inspiration. Thanks Novara/Aaron for this excellent interview.

[@TheChannel-bc2lp]

GMO and 5G wireless not Climate change are the root cause of insects disappearing

[@sonicwhippet]

Where are you based in the UK?

[@davs3208]

@sonicwhippet Angus. Just away to place an order for pollinator friendly plants. Given my role a whole new impetus.

[@markalton2809]

I am not an entomologist, biologist or anything like that. But I have observed a huge decline in the numbers of insects during my 65 years. 55 years ago I remember warm summer nights full of moths, summer afternoons walking through hay meadows where butterflies drifted through the air like snow.

[@thomasgreen7343]

I remember flies and mosquitos too. These "pests" are now mostly gone.

[@carolineobrien3692]

@@thomasgreen7343 only two houseflies came into our house all summer. I remember hordes coming in every day in the 70s and 80s and having to keep food covered.

[@AcmePotatoPackingPocatello]

..and when pointing out the collapse of insects, people look incredulous. University studies on topic are stupidly flawed. The reason # 1 and foremost is climate temperature oscillation. To warm at wrong time.

[@runswithraptors]

​@@thomasgreen7343I don't think I've been bitten by a mosquito in several years 😢

[@rhythmandblues_alibi]

The way you described that is beautiful 🥰

[@terranentity]

It's not weird to appreciate living organisms. Life is fascinating, death is easy. We ought to act more as guardians & not the destroyers of our SHARED biosphere.

[@twogsds]

In 1962 Rachel Carson published Silent Spring a book about how our indiscriminate use of agrochemicals would destroy the bottom of the food chain, the insects and how that would impact further up the food chain, now we need to feed our birds because without insects they will die out, we are also doing this in the Oceans with Krill harvesting, cutting away the bottom of the food chain, for a species that prizes intelligence we sure act in stupid manner. The State of Nature report shows that the UK one of the most nature depleted country's in the world, we are unlikely to reverse that situation as regulations are going to be slashed to allow Industry free reign according to the Labour Government.

[@flunkyminion]

Sawing off the branch we are sitting on.

[@goinblinddoggone]

All true, but set in motion by Brexit when we lost the protection of the EU by being the branch that got sawn off...

[@davidpalk5010]

No political party can make a worthwhile difference. Any "green" policies are (have always been) PR to encourage us to continue our consumption unabated. The problems we face are due to our over-polulation and total exploitation - which is what drives the credit-based growth economy which is our essential life-support system. This mechanism is a problem which the conventional political system will never be able to address. Our existence is totally unsustainable. There will be a significant re-set - chaotic, destructive, and forced upon us. Nobody can tell me otherwise.

[@janwynne-woodhouse5144]

Use of weedkiller is also a big issue. I don't know how it is still legally sold

[@davidpalk5010]

@@janwynne-woodhouse5144 Political lobbying, probably. Political lobbying is a £2BN industry which makes a mockery of our supposed democratic system. Then there are the many "gifts" showered upon our elected representatives. Might a minister have recieved an expensive suit or glasses, or a long stay in a swanky apartment, or a luxury holiday, at the expense of a chemical company which is just being kind? Of course, these gifts have no effect on legislation at all, do they...?

[@sdwone]

We Humans are set to learn a LOT of DEEP and VERY painful lessons...

[@hitreset0291]

Cheer up. Humans are going away. And Mother Earth will be just fine when they are gone.

[@sdwone]

@@hitreset0291 Oh I'm Fine! Unlike some of you lot, I don't put much emphasis on us Human Beings! And the fact that some of us are arrogant enough to conclude that whatever forces created and shaped the Universe, is also a "reflection" of us is arrogance and hubris beyond the pale! We are LONG OVERDUE for a profound new lesson in Humility! And if we don't learn... Well... As least Mother Earth will be doing JUST fine without us! 🙂

[@elainebraindrain3174]

Extinction is beyond a lesson😢

[@JamesMackie-y3f]

Oh don't be so daft humans aren't going anywhere stop with the scare mongering

[@Greebstreebling]

In my garden in Swansea UK, honestly its hard to find insects. As I would drive my car along country lanes in the 1970's, you had to stop to clean insects off your windscreen. Where I live we've gone from abundance to virtually nothing in 50 years.

[@sprsmoke]

In New Jersey, USA, you see hardly any worms.

[@jean6453]

I am Costa Rican and live against a cloud forest on the top of a mountain, the decrease in the population of insects is very obvious here as well.

[@IanPhillipsWildlife]

Add a little log pile, bee hotels etc, small changes can make a difference.

[@queenvagabond8787]

Im from Scotland and I'm a bit younger than you, but even in the 90s, insects clarting cars and windscreens was normal, especially in Summer. It seems to literally just have dropped off massively through the 2000s til now... deeply worrying.

[@gravijax]

@@queenvagabond8787so true. As a 10 year old my dad used to pay me £1 after every long road trip to clean the bugs off the car. 30 years later I can't remember the last time I saw enough bugs to warrant a clean. Anecdotal I know, but it scares me.

[@davehendricks4824]

I’ve been raising silkmoths and releasing them into the wild since I was 10. I’m 71 now and have a cloth screen cage on my front porch with over 100 cocoons. They’ll overwinter until spring when I breed one of each species and release the rest to hopefully keep them thriving in the area where I live.

[@c.rutherford]

I'm in the Midwest U.S. and have definitely noticed that insects have been disappearing in the summer in past years in the suburbs. The change has been really profound. In my house here I used to have to use yellow bug lights on the garage and porch to avoid them crowding around them outside especially in late summer. Just not needed anymore. This year the crickets at night also seem to be gone. I kind of did a double take a couple weeks ago, I went into a Barnes and Noble bookstore in September and they just had the front doors propped open all day. I guess they weren't concerned about bugs flying in. There weren't any. No more cleaning bugs off my car headlights and windshield in the summer. Used to have to do this. But then I also used to use an ice scraper in the winter, and a snow shovel. Didn't need to use either, except for one single day last winter. Many won't miss the bugs. But will you miss the birds? I don't know how they will continue to be around with nothing to eat. idk

[@mavisharris692]

I'm in upstate New York and have noticed exactly the same thing. I'm 65 and the change has been gaining speed.

[@lauraw.7008]

The chemical industry interference is the biggest detriment to insect survival. If you’re worming livestock, you’re killing critical decomposers. Pesticides, herbicides need to be nearly eliminated. See Peter Byck’s movie Roots So Deep

[@katiekane5247]

​@@mavisharris69266 and in north Georgia. The decline is frightening and rapidly increasing. I've been screaming about this for decades but nobody cared 20 years ago when I worked in ornamental horticulture. Humans are pretty ignorant of the needs of creatures lower on the food chain 😔

[@jithenin]

Thank you NOVARA MEDIA & AARON for this conversation with DAVE 👍❤️

[@commodiousvestibule]

My organic garden was an insect desert this year. I've never known a year like it. No bees, no bumblebees, no flies and all the flying insect friendly plants I grow, that are usually swarming were empty. Now the spiders are starving in their webs. I'm a small organic seed producer and lack of pollination has seriously impacted my seed harvests this year. I think there's been catastrophic population crashes in all sorts of different insect species and I'm not sure if they're going to recover. There should be a Himalayan Balsam amnesty going forward to help the bumblebees recover. It's been an act of folly destroying them this year.

[@MyKharli]

There surly is something awful happening , i am lucky to have an acre given mostly over to natural habitats and the change in 30 years is shocking , worse that 30 years ago was denuded from 30 years before that , and again 30 before that and again and again. There is a rolling forgetfulness that ruins our awareness of what's gone .

[@carolineobrien3692]

@@MyKharli when I tell my 17 year old son about how many insects there used to be it is not the same as having experienced it.

[@violetviolet888]

Plant native plants. Read the book "Bringing Nature Home" by Douglass Tallamy

[@commodiousvestibule]

@@violetviolet888 My garden is full of native plants. Hence my concern.

[@violetviolet888]

@@commodiousvestibule Are you in farm territory?

[@RunningOnABall]

I’ve just ordered some of his books from my local library, thank you for giving Dave Goulson the opportunity to speak. Nature is key for carbon sequestration as is education.

[@roydini1]

Thank you Novara for getting Dave on. Really interesting interview. Well done!

[@ichifish]

The insect extinction is a tragedy. I remember summers in the 1970s in NH, beetles and moths would cover the screens on the house every night, the fields and woods were literally crawling with tiny life. I ache for the loss.

[@fredflintstone3826]

Plenty of cockroaches in Parliament.

[@toyotaprius79]

And wasps and gammons.

[@Worldgonecrazy2]

Try to be funny when you have no food anywhere.

[@spoonikle]

… dismissive and dehumanizing.

[@IanPhillipsWildlife]

@@Worldgonecrazy2 cockroaches/snakes/rats in Parliament etc is a standard bot reply to so many UK wildlife KZbin videos.

[@gamerknown]

@@IanPhillipsWildlife well, are they wrong

[@stephenturner8129]

That was amazing. Thanks so much Dave and Aaron. I'm hopelessly ignorant with gardens, plants, flowers etc. I rent from a housing association ,but we have massive communal gardens, so I'm going to talk with my neighbours about doing something useful!

[@stephanietaraderby8376]

If you can get a native wildflower meadow and some log piles, you'll be off to a great start!

[@stephenturner8129]

@@stephanietaraderby8376 Thank you!

[@katiekane5247]

​@@stephenturner8129native plants are so important!

[@Batters56]

I’ll write here what I’ve written in several other places: I drove to Paris in the Summer, within minutes of driving off the ferry, it was clear that across the channel there are still enough insects around to be spattering the windscreen and front number plate (enough to need to wipe it down). Obvs very sad for the insects I hit. Whereas I also drove to Manchester and back twice in a long weekend! Without encountering very many insects at all. The pesticides that we allowed and Europe banned have been catastrophic here. Now I know radiator grills aren’t as visible as they once were, but I remember looking at my parents Volvo when I was young which would have all sorts of unfortunate critters stuck in it after a long journey.

[@michaelporter6341]

Hasn't France banned Neo-nicotinoids ,the pesticide responsible for much of the general insect losses, whereas we have recently allowed its re-introduction?

[@krustyprick]

This man is brilliant. Thank you. This should be shown at every school and everyone else for that matter

[@fluxfaze]

Insect decline is manifesting in Texas by marked decrease in windshield impacts. From the 1980s through 1990s it was a struggle keeping vehicle windshields clean. These days it can be weeks between windshield cleanings.

[@emmaphilo4049]

It's the same everywhere I believe. Same in my country, France.

[@jakespivey3716]

I live in California and I've lived here all my life, now 73 years old. And I haven't had to clean a windshield bug off my windshield in a couple decades. I never thought about it until you mentioned it.

[@scotthite1089]

I'm an OTR truck driver. The decline of insects is very sad to witness.

[@Lucky32Luke]

My brother would love it here. He has a phobia of insects especially flying ones. Since I moved to the UK one of the first thing I have noticed was the lack of insects. Back in Hungary we have a wide variety but here is much much less. Mosquito is also way less (I love that). So I agree it is odd and maybe a precursor for something sinister.

[@caterpillaralice]

Thank you for this conversation. Much needed

[@SanjeevGoel]

I remember when I was a kid how many insects would show up on the windshield or the front of the car when driving nowadays it’s pretty much nonexistent

[@river4495]

I really enjoyed this interview, it was so educational.

[@TheAndreawixson]

I have become an avid gardener in the US. My husband and I have worked hard to build up our garden. My first love is growing flowers and harvesting seed. We have created quite a biodiverse ecosystem in our backyard. But the past couple seasons I’ve been more fascinated in discovering all the new insects, bees, flies, spiders, etc. I saw and video taped a leaf cutting bee cut a round chunk out of my first Lisianthus bloom. It took 8 months to grow the flowers. I was so fascinated! Most would go to poison to protect their flowers. I did not. I protect some of the buds/blooms with mesh bag and left some for the bees. Same with my roses. Everyone was freaking out about the aphids this year. Where I was patient and waited for the ladybugs to come. Which they did! And they took care of the aphids. If we just allow nature to do its thing, we don’t need to poison everything. 🐞🪲🐛❤

[@katiekane5247]

I worked in the horticulture business years ago. I'd sell Asclepias (Milkweed) to customers and have them call months later for a recommendation for a chemical to stop the caterpillars eating them 😳 Our whole attitude about plants and nature needs to change. I've planted for nature but there's little left and all my Milkweed was withered from drought by the time the 2-3 Monarchs visited 😢 I'm in north Georgia and we've seen invasive Joro spiders the last few years. This year, I selectively limited them using a torch instead of pesticides. I finally had some orb weavers return but their numbers are still way down.

[@theresawalsh6759]

I live in Central London. I feed the birds, have a wormery, do not use insecticides. A few years ago, before lockdown and before that, I had wasps nesting in the ground in my garden. Lots of plants have planted themselves in my garden. KIWI, FIG TREE, AVOCADO, FERNS. I think they grew from the compost and bird droppings. I've had pollinators coming including, hover flies, bees wasps. I've had bees visiting in the winter as I have a flowering winter garden. However, this year, there is definite decline of insects!!!!!!. But woodpeckers, Jays, all the tit family, including the beautiful long tailed tits, Robins . Hoping the insects return. Too much dust and toxic debris from endless wars. I call my garden "the garden of Eden" Maybe, when we've destroyed everything it will remain????

[@ChickpeatheTortie]

I'm in London and I have not seen one single ant, one single aphid and most weirdly not one single 'cat flea' - every year since I've lived here 30 years had a war with cat fleas but this year my 7 Hackney moggs have been totally 'flea free' which nice but it is not supposed to be so

[@geordiedog1749]

Nice work. I’m in west London but my kiwis all failed!

[@mikevolante7663]

In Yorkshire ants are running amock. Cant comment on fleas.​@ChickpeatheTortie

[@ChickpeatheTortie]

@@mikevolante7663 Lucky you being in Yorkshire - the air in London is so polluted its reaching the point that insects can no longer survive in it

[@kathrynhobbs8874]

Yep, London gardener…….really few insect, no tits, chaffinches, few squirrels……..but legends of slugs and snails,….more than I have ever seen before

[@gravijax]

This was fantastic. Im always horrified at humans war against nature. I feel we have a deep fear of being just 'an animal' so go to lengths to disguise our origins. We'd all do better to remember we are all part of the same cycle.

[@Documentary81]

Couldn't agree more. We, humanity as a whole, needs to understand that we are not separate from the natural world, we are part of it and depend on it.

[@emmaphilo4049]

We replaced natural land with concrete, cars, parking lots and asphalt. Yuck. Plus the abuse of pesticides..... Disgusting!

[@danielmcardle3476]

Brilliant interview. Scary times...

[@mikevolante7663]

South Yorkshire this year, very few, house flies, hoverflies, bees, butterflies and mosquitos. Some lady birds though, and quite a few aphids

[@markjohnson4053]

There are plenty of maggots and cockroaches in Washington and London. On a more serious note, we really need to honestly evaluate the impacts of all agro-chemicals and their impact on the entire food chain. Anyone remember the slogan "DDT is good for you and me"?

[@lilithlives]

😂😂😂😂

[@cdineaglecollapsecenter4672]

We used to get DDT'ed regularly when I was a kid - fogger trucks would just come down the street

[@user-py2mf3nb8g]

No!!!! how old are you😂

[@janetcbass]

Anyone remember when you had to clean smunched bugs of the windshield and lights after driving at dusk?

[@user-py2mf3nb8g]

@@janetcbass front of my white car is smeared with insects but I live in the country.

[@TaZerrHD]

horrible that we even need to make arguments for caring for other species, especially when our way of living is completely dependant on every species there is and the balance of them

[@mirandakoggan3914]

In rural Vermont no butterflies, no ants, few mosquitoes, and few flies this summer. It was so obvious that they were missing. Also no birds only a few crows?

[@bluemamba5317]

In Sweden, it was about the same, where I live. Also, the best year I have ever seen for plant growth.

[@mancmal]

What an excellent and informative programme, thanks a lot

[@emmaphilo4049]

A good read is Rachel Carson , Silent Spring.She tried to ring alarms on this particular problem. I was born in the 80s and I can remember millions of insects stuck on windshields and skyes full of birds. It's all gone. I can't even begin to express how sad it makes me. This video is good for younger folks or beginners on such topics, but many of us already know of the awful imprint human activity has put on the animals of this planet, including insects. Being an entomologist sounds like an amazing career. I love science, especially the study of the natural world.

[@dianamccann1789]

Such tragic messages delivered so calmly and gently. Campaigners in Wandsworth London did a petition to the council to stop using glyphosate in 2020. We collected 1100 signatures. But they refused and continue to refuse on the grounds they’re using only a small amount 🤦🏻‍♀️ I will email this discussion to them and keep trying. I’m convinced that the plethora of toxic chemicals not just pesticides but those from plastics eg PFAS we are continually exposed to are causing the huge increase in unusual cancers especially in younger people, syndromes and other illnesses including Alzheimer’s Disease that we are seeing……

[@flowergrannyjanet]

Thank you so much that was a very interesting, informative interview and I will be reading Dave Goulson's books

[@jamietulacz7742]

Great and hugely important interview. I'm definitely here for the Gardeners Worid session at the end as well

[@wendymelvins2459]

Surprised not to have permaculture mentioned at any point. Also, although he did defend ‘weeds’, I think it’s important to actually challenge the euphemistic terminology often used in gardening, ie. ‘tidying up’ meaning ‘exterminating’

[@pvp5797]

I guess I'm the exception but I like insects. It took me going vegan to think about where to draw the line and why. Why should we act like insects don't have value too? Most people think cats and dogs are great, and that's it really. This culture is quite dim and callous.

[@brianvent3043]

I'm a professional macro photographer and I take pics of bugs all the time. Dragonflies are incredible. Praying Mantis - INCREDIBLE

[@emmaphilo4049]

I like insects too

[@amberdy12]

Brilliant interview. I garden with nature a priority but some neighbours consider I use wildlife as an excuse for being lazy

[@everythingmatters6308]

Someone in my city in Kentucky recently got fined $300 because their "weeds" (native flowers) were over two feet tall in their front yard. Some governments really harrass people trying to do the right thing.

[@f0xylady100]

What a fascinating conversation. Thank you ❤

[@Anastasia.03]

As to Aaron's grass question. Ground cover or clover can be nice options. Or clover mixed with grass. That whole exchange was kind of endearing

[@katiekane5247]

Have you seen "Kill Your Lawn"? Joey Santoro is a self taught botanist with a quick wit and a potty mouth. His main YT channel is Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

[@richdiana3663]

I live in the woods far from any big city and all my neighbors are Amish. I've seen my insects disappear in the last 10 yrs. No pollinators to speak of, along with no amphibians or reptiles. We're denuding the biosphere with our numbers and the inherent greed we revel in. I give humanity maybe 20 yrs, or less.

[@PlanetAriom]

Quality interview. Dave Goulson is such a fascinating man with a vital message. The only problem is now Aaron is going to have to explain to Michael what insects are! 😆

[@badiyasudah5022]

Thank you. Great program! Very much needed education.

[@hormunculus]

If this is the first time you’ve heard this then I hope you’re very young because, if not, you depress me with your ignorance. They barely scratch the surface of the problem in this CBEEBIES interview. Check out Paul Ehrlich or William Rees to start with. They don’t tell you the awful reality on this channel x

[@emmaphilo4049]

Yes it's very very beginner level. But I guess it's needed. They sound like they talk to kids ​@@hormunculus

[@gushunter6709]

The fundamental truth that people do not seem to grasp is the fact that you cannot have perpetual economic growth on a planet with finite resources. Our entire capitalist economic model is suicidal.

[@ScottRiddleArtist]

The majority of humans have no idea.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

The sad aspect of that is many, many people are struggling just to survive. To be at all attentive to the decline of insects let alone helping to make a difference is quite beyond them. The next decades will be the deciding time for much of life as we know it.

[@Jc-ms5vv]

@@michaeldeierhoi4096what next decades? Things are starting to unfold exponentially now

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

@@Jc-ms5vv True, but by saying the next decades I include everything from now into the future. I have spent a lot of time outdoors so these changes are directly apparent to me. It's quite disturbing.

[@Jeffberg42]

That pesticide free town? My and Jack Layton's hometown. Hudson Quebec. Also ZERO chain restaurants. Which believe me is even more important!:-)

[@fecundloin2780]

What a fantastic interview, what a man

[@bakedbean37]

I remember standing looking at the "garden" section in a Tesco store once. Rows and rows of chemical concoctions to kill this that and the other. Seemed to be more about what you could eradicate and exterminate rather than grow and nurture. For a chunk of us that's "gardening". 😞

[@mavisharris692]

Is it so difficult to imagine the extinction of our own species? By most yardsticks other than our ego, we are not the success story we like to think we are. It certainly would help all other forms of life on earth!

[@andrewvalentin6228]

The Willamette valley in Oregon still has an abundance of diverse insects. Especially, around intricate, home gardens. However, I do notice my vehicle facade is cleaner after country drives than it was, say 4 years ago. ☹️

[@markscott7324]

I remember back in 2013 my dad driving me to work in the early morning and out of nowhere he said, 'There's nothing hitting the windscreen anymore. Where have all the f***ing flies gone?'

[@dotcheckley3369]

I moved to a part of France where pesticides are banned. I honestly didn't give any thought or even much like insects before that (scared of moths hated spiders etc) Here though the beautiful moths, amazing types of spiders and beetles, amazing types of bees & wasps, butterflies and even flies. They are truly amazing and their place in the eco system is essential. Watching a carpenter bee or masonry bee making its 'nest' is mind blowing. To truly appreciate insects you have to really look at them, I have even got to the point where I love house centipedes, they are big & eat house spiders (natures balance). All pesticides should be banned, farming, cereal & animal does fine without them. Climate changes are another matter, this year has been really difficult for insects, especially things like the ground nesting bees

[@emmaphilo4049]

Where is it? I want to go there

[@NeilThomson-f7t]

Three quarters of the arthropods in our national parks are gone in the UK, and DG still has to say "these chemicals" rather name the specific ones like Glyphosate, or Neo-nicotinoids, to avoid the wrath of Bayer.

[@trulymental7651]

Hardly any bees , noone but me grows flowers really, but even so , drastic drop since 2019 . I would imagine the grey stripy sky and dodgy rain haven't helped. Total lack of ground bees . Not seen woodpeckers this year either. A lot of wild flowers over the meadows were missing this year too.

[@ElliotPorter65]

I saw basically 0 butterflies in my garden compared to last year, it's very concerning.

[@steve-xx6or]

High stratosphere aerosol injections

[@russmarkham2197]

yes, there has been a drastic drop quite recently. Even in 2013 2014 there were far more bees in our area than now.

[@bluemamba5317]

USA is fecked. In Sweden only change for the better. I saw a woodpecker today outside my house.

[@Tom-pd1rb]

Thank you for knowing what I studied over fifty years ago. Insects are also a barometer, perhaps.

[@gwendolynmcgrath7697]

Our background extinction of arthropods and invertebrates are shocking

[@dougg1075]

I’m in Alabama , and when we were kids in the late seventies, I remember everybody’s cars would be covered in insect splatter. Nearly none of that now. There’s no doubt something has happened.

[@stephenbarlow2493]

Oh dear Aaron. You claimed that there is no known example of where over generations, people didn't eat animal products. Jains, are one of the oldest known religions, and they don't eat meat, fish or eggs (yes, I think they drink milk). There are millions of adherents. Buddhists are not supposed to eat meat, although the position on that is more nuanced, and variable between cultures, and it was for a period the major religion in India. I am not even an advocate of never eating any meat, we just need to eat far less of it. But please get your facts right. It's good that you appear to have started taking on some more ecological concepts on board. However, your conception of trophic cascades, is a bit limited, and mistaken (I'm an ecology graduate). PS. Edit - Also your claim that at this latitude we have to eat meat, is bizarre. Many pulses will grow in Britain. You're arguments might be true, if Britain was in the Arctic Circle, but it isn't. Remember, me saying the Buddhist position on eating meat is more nuanced. Well I have been a Buddhist of sorts for a long time, and read much of the scripture, the tracts by scholars. It is recognized that in certain parts of the world, at high latitudes, or high altitudes, it may not be possible to avoid eating meat, other living creatures. But really your arguments are very poor, and you are spouting livestock farming, propaganda, as fact. As I say, I have no side in this, no absolutism. I am solely interested in sustainability, and I have over 50 years experience, thinking and reading about it. You need to be a bit more cautious about what you think you know. Same as your stuff about flying and driving cars, the problems with greens. Do you know that only 18% of the global population own a car. That over 80% of the global population have never flown at all, or not recently. Even in the US and UK, nearly half the population have not flown in the last year. So your arguments, are from a certain, Western, developed world perspective. Believe it or not, a lot of environmentalists are very highly educated and well read.

[@antonyjh1234]

There are issues with what you say and the precedent you are setting saying environmentalists are well read. Drinking milk, using manure for crops, the animals for draught power to plough the fields and leather for sandals or dried dung for cooking fuel, fats for candles.. One of the biggest misconceptions I found while vegan was meat is around 50% of the conversation and we use 99%, talking about just diet leaves out the most energy dense products. No culture has avoided the use of animals and fertiliser use for human designed crops is far more tonnage than cattle and their crops. Britain with a slowing AMOC is going to become less arable, less crops and more animals will become the norm, imagining a world where 50% of the nitrogen is from fossil fuels and those are running out. Let's talk about insects, 99.97% of the mass of the atmosphere is only 100k or 62 mile high and all our insecticides are in this area, if 3% are vegan, a 3500% change in numbers would wipe out what insects we have left. You calling the logic of one system being replaced by another, livestock propaganda and the fact you consider yourself being well read could be part of the problem. All data you have regarding meat has all emissions of the whole animal put onto the meat, then compared to crops per kilo, that make it to market. This ignores all the crops that don't make it to market and as far as crop waste, we feed more crop waste to them from human crops than food we grow for them which is why chicken and pork is so cheap and barely moved in price. You do need to be more cautious because we are now talking about you being wrong, meat because it is mostly on non arable land with very little inputs, is the most sustainable and environmentally cleaner but I want you to consider the knowledge you have is because you have been given it and you should wonder if it's a food company behind it all and another thing to consider, methane has a life of around 80 years, I couldn't find the numbers for UK, but the US, cattle numbers are roughly the same as a 100 years ago, meaning cattle for that long have added no extra warming, considering they had so much bison as well, methane warming hasn't increased in USA since veganism became a term. If a tree is carbon neutral then why isn't a cow? Whereas the carbon that is coming from a stored source for tractor diesel stays in the atmosphere for 10,000 years, people say methane warming is 28 times over 100 years, but if the methane is gone after 100, then is it 14 times over 200 etc, shouldn't the warming times be comparable and then you would see co2 is far worse. Going carnivore is much better for the environment, sorry.

[@Documentary81]

​@@antonyjh1234I'm not a vegan, I'd just like to preface my comment by saying that, but the scientists in this video has said simply by eating less meat, or rather, less red meat, it would be a significant amount better for the environment.

[@Documentary81]

​@@antonyjh1234 I'll take the scientists in the videos word on it, not yours, sorry. As I said in my last reply, I'm not a vegan, but he said it would be significantly better for he environment if we all simply ate less red meat. So no, going carnivore isn't better. But I'll listen when you show me the empirical evidence in peer reviewed scientific journals, that you've published, which backs what you're saying. Enjoy

[@antonyjh1234]

@@Documentary81 You want empirical evidence that animals on land we don't spray, has less sprays? Ok I was a vegan and I have studied this for 30 years but ok you'll listen when logic takes over, not a biased study that you never read. You too.

[@antonyjh1234]

@@Documentary81 you used the same empirical evidence crack twice, cattle are on non arable land for the majority of their lives around the world and we get much more than food... but how about this, why not do the smart way of doing things? Because you believed in empirical evidence, you must have it at hand to show all the products we get from animals can be replaced with less inputs? You must have this because this is the only way you believe things, right? I want evidence, anywhere that you can point me to where the study ISN'T all about meat, if you can find me any study, just one, that lowers inputs/emissions for ALL that we get I will go back to being vegan.I will change my whole life again, can't be fairer than that now can i ? I will wait..

[@booswalia]

I grew my 36th organic garden this year and it's clear that the insects are declining. I live in an opening in the woods and this summer there were no slugs, no mosquitoes, only cabbage moths, very few ants and the June bugs didn't emerge. I found grubs but there were no actual June bugs. It was very odd. Normally I can't go out in summer without protection from mosquitoes. This year I was leaving the doors open for the dogs to run in and out. Scary really..Eastern Canada.

[@wilecatrexy]

I've been reading a lot of comments with people noticing very little insects around them. Where i live there are still many insects around and i guess thats because its very forested, not much agriculture. We humans need to stop using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides for our crops, to bring some balance back to this planet.

[@dsyy90210]

the UK is one of the most de-wilded landscapes on the planet, isnt it? we're all looking screwed obviously but the UK in particular desperately needs to make drastic measures to cultivate life

[@aminawood1737]

Great interview!

[@hjb788]

Such brilliant interviews on Downstream. I always learn such a lot. I was wondering if Novara had tried to get an interview with Henry Dimbleby? I saw him speak and read his book “Ravenous “. He could talk about food security and obesity jabs and tie lots of things in.

[@Human_Herbivore]

Thanks, excellent conversation. Gonna read the book.

[@indrid9067]

🌟 fascinating, instructive, contemplative exchange 💮

[@angelaoliver2750]

I'm an adult and I love insects 😊

[@mattbradbury]

All of your long form interviews over the last few months have been incredible- all of your interviewees should be part of a coalition to share information and tactics - anti-Tufton street collective

[@helenmiles3866]

Super guest! ❤

[@Human_Herbivore]

The offal one is a terrible suggestion when it comes to iron. Loads of vegans I know, including my wife had anaemia prior to becoming vegan. The most likely cause of that is that dairy inhibits the absorbtion of iron. She also had athsma which went and the main culprit again is dairy. From an environmental perspective also, we'd need 75% less farming land, if everyone stopped consuming meat, dairy and eggs. Imagine rewilding that land with trees etc. There is a a concept of food miles and it says two main things. Firstly that animal products are transported at least as far as plant products. Secondly, the movement of food accounts for less than 5% of its production environmental impact.

[@runswithraptors]

Hard to buy considering they use corn and soy beans as industrial inputs too not just for animal feed. Meat is not the enemy it is the methods we use

[@Human_Herbivore]

@@runswithraptors the vast majority of soy and corn are used as animal feed.

[@jameslong9921]

The only thing leading us to decline is ourselves.

[@dianewaller8684]

Wish the subject of the balance of Nature and importance of our creatures was included in school curriculums. Children would love to be inspired by the beauty of butterflies or the role of dragonflies and so much more and why it's so important to care for our planet.

[@AVAILUSERNAM]

Thanks for inviting Dr Goulson. I would love to see an interview with a Biologist willing to discuss population and Malthus. Malthus is so misunderstood and demonized, but his science is sound. Acknowledging that does not mean you are a Social Darwinist out to cull humans.

[@stephenbarlow2493]

Most bird species of birds, including seeding eaters, mainly feed insects to their young, either adult insects, or their larvae, caterpillars.

[@Hindsighht]

This guy is the reasonable voice of reality that we need right now. I hate when conservationists try to give things a happy ending "despite all of this, I am optimistic", it's bollocks. That being said gardens constitute less than 1% of England's land area. Farms account for 70%. By all means have fun in your gardens. But if you really want to help, you should support your local wildlife conservation charity (wildlife trust, rspb etc.) many of whom are working with Farmers to help them transition to more wildlife friendly ways of doing things. Also if you can afford to buy organic food, do so. It may seem like a luxury, but it should be a priority.

[@AriesKJJ2]

In British Columbia 3 years ago the temperature rose above 46 degrees and stayed around 45 for about a week! Hundreds of people died and it was devastating to small animals and insects. The forests were ominously silent the next year! This year has been much cooler and the insects and birds have made a noticable comback but I can imagine how bad years back to back years can wipe species out! (Including the dumb genocidal ones)

[@ravenken]

I feel like I am living in the Twilight Zone. Yes, insects have dwindled like crazy but what we are NOT doing is acknowledging that the world we don't see is also dying. What do I mean? I noticed about 5 years ago I really did not need to operate my auto window cleaner anymore. That 'brown' dirt was not present and did not have to get cleaned off of the windshield. Now I understand why. That 'brown' stuff was organic matter. The stuff at the bottom of the food chain. We acknowledge acidifying the oceans but refuse to acknowledge we have altered the chemistry of the soil. All that stuff living in the soil. Their world has changed and since we know NOTHING about it, ... it happens in the shadows and we don't notice until the bugs are gone. We have destroyed the ecology of the planet and there is no going back. IF humanity somehow survives (no way, FAS) they will be left with a barren earth. God I hope there is not reincarnation. Yikes!

[@jackgreene5663]

Thank you for a wonderful video. But in my wild garden the slugs are doing very well (understatement), consequently not my vegetables.

[@katiekane5247]

Make hides for small snakes and toads

[@teaismylife247]

50:00 I work in carbon-capture and the issue with "why don't we just plant more trees?" is the sheer ammount of CO2 we need to remove. We are emitting so much CO2 that even if we covered the whole of the earth in forest, we'd barely make a dent in CO2 levels. So yes to trees, but also Yes to charging companies the true costs of fossil fuels and to capturing CO2 at the factory, before it enters the atmosphere and is diluted to 0.04% concentration, where it's far more difficult to reconcentrate.

[@dijidal]

I’ll never forget a suburb in Southern Oregon I visited where the entire community had signs on their lawns that said, “War On Weeds” with acronym “W.O.W.” as the header. It was surreal. Like being in the movie Stepford Wives.

[@AlanBolshevik]

Most farm land in Britain is used for meat production. Diet is going to have to change for a significant amount of rewilding to occur.

[@danielmcardle3476]

So what happens when the insect populations "bounce back", as they can reproduce crazy fast, and the bats and birds are not there to eat them, as their populations will take ages to recover.?

[@Ugglu234]

The initial reproduction of pests without any predators typically results in pandemic of a specialized virus, fungus or bacteria. If the population becomes immune they will eat all available food and starvation comes, population declines, some new plants grow from seed, survivors live of seedlings. Population rises, eats more than the seedlings grow, eats them up all again, starvation,... Even less seedlings, now big areas without "eaters" in which the seeds can grow to big mature plants and produce lot of new seeds... Eventually some lone wandering eaters looking for the rare plants find the new untouched forest where they thrive. This effect on the ecosystem could take long bouncing around before getting stabilized substantially. Decades at least

[@troygrant9585]

Wolves and other predators can coexist with us if we collar them with dog training collars that activate when they come near people, property or domestic animals

[@user-jv1fz3um3t]

Glad to see Novara covering the biodiversity / nature crisis. I’m glad Dave could address common misconceptions about plant based diets and food imports. I wish Aaron would check carbon budgets, global temperature forecasts and the carbon emissions of transport (especially private ICE automobiles and aviation) before thinking natural carbon sinks (eg. whales) could absorb enough of those emissions to enable the continued luxury and convenience based lifestyles of the global north while also keeping the world under 2 degrees. That’s the reason the “green” movement talks about fossils fuels for energy and transport, they are the biggest sources of emissions. Natural carbon sinks are not longer net absorbers of carbon. Those are the hard truths and either wealthy polluters change their habits, or we face potential human extinction. Industrial animal agriculture also needs to either end, Earth’s planetary boundaries can’t cope with billions of people consuming meat and dairy.

[@caterpillaralice]

Glyphosate does persist in the body and soil. The system disruption used for plants is the same of our gut micro biome, it changes the composition of fungi and bacteria in the soil and our intestines with severe consequences for both... and yes is carcinogen at doses currently suggested as safe in Europe. And they spray it in children schools, children gardens etc

[@Papawcanner]

BS

[@katiekane5247]

​@@Papawcannersadly not BS

[@mavisharris692]

Fantastic interview 👏. I live 1 1/2 hour from New York city and we have bears, coyotes, coywolf, fishers and many more predators. It is no more a problem than anything else in country life. You take precautions just like you do when you drive in your car.

[@voiceinthenoise3357]

It's useful to view insects as nature spirits. Past cultures held beliefs in nature spirits with different roles in preserving and nourishing the environment, which is essentially what insects do, so small and overlooked they may as well be invisible, as ephemeral and bound to their environment as sprites and dryads of myth and lore.

[@celt456]

Loved this very educational conversation ; thankyou. Many years ago, a hawkmoth flew in through an open window one evening and unfurled its proboscis to sip from some spilt drops of Vimto (I'm not sure the drink, Vimto, is made any more). It hung around for a couple of days and then left, we presume, the way it had come in.

[@GlobeHackers]

Again, YOU can make a change and forget about our predicament's systemic, socioeconomic, structural, and cultural aspects. Just do something that makes you feel good. Thank you for your contribution.

[@Mashbass1]

You should also try to get people like Nate Hagens, Daniel Schmachtenberger, Steve Keen, Simon Michaux, Art Berman or Bill Rees on your show.

[@suedunn2105]

Love all those people, yes please! Especially Nate and Bill.

[@everythingmatters6308]

Jim Massa and Guy McPherson.

[@polr6311]

Thank you for this interview!

[@Gazr965]

We will never get to ''Nothing but Humans'' on Earth, as we are already in trouble with the other species we have killed off, everything has a value in the circle of life. Gaz Yorkshire.

[@TonyMarren-o8m]

In plymouth where l live we have a little wooded valley between two housing estates, one side of which was felled due to some desease of the pine trees and left to rewild. Out of the way of traffic of any kind and miles from any farms, unsprayed by anything it is very popular with some dog walkers yet still is remarkably devoid of most insect life bar the occasional cabbage white butterfly or lonely bee. As a man of seventy three l can remember when the summers here positively hummed with life in the sixties and find the contrast with today appocalyptic. This valley is so cut off that l can't help thinking it must be something else as well, maybe cloud seeding or mobile phone usage to name a few other suspects.

[@katiekane5247]

The garbage they're spraying us with is toxic.

[@jamesneilsongrahamloveinth1301]

Ultimately, it has to do with the soil - maintaining (or restoring) the quality of the soil by the use of dung and compost and sustainable methods. Artifical fertilisers feed the plant, not the soil. Healthy soil makes healthy, nutritious plants and - potentially - healthy animals and humans . . .

[@katiekane5247]

Permaculture and bioremediation

[@RobSoap-i7t]

I’ve noticed this year in Scotland hardly any insects Very worrying

[@russmarkham2197]

even the summer mosquitos? Truly worrying.

[@michaelocooper]

Sadly for years the climate environmental crisis has been suppressed , downplayed ,ignored by the media and governments at the behest of the oil industry as a result we are rushing headlong into total destruction.

[@stuarthamilton4895]

GREAT INTERVIEW 👏🏽

[@Lioness_UTV]

A message to all the ppl commenting and lamenting the lack of insects and the disastrous impacts. YOU all need to speak up, at your local garden clubs, speak to your politicians, to local farmers. Far too many are being passive, that's the biggest issue, silently watching a disaster unfold and doing nothing is as bad as being the ones to actively poison the soil and sect life.

[@dianewaller8684]

Is it possible for farmers to switch to natural fertilisers and use less toxins that destroy the soil and the tiny creatures that usually keep the soil healthy?

[@everythingmatters6308]

I've been speaking up to everyone I know for years. Most people don't care enough to do anything. They prefer sitting on their butts watching video screens to busting their butts digging gardens and ponds. My metro council man didn't know insects are down 70%. I said, "Where do you think this is going in another twenty years?" He naively thinks it will miraculously get better by itself.

[@sk.n.9302]

Greetings from a ranch in mid southern Texas. We have salt domes underground & the carbon capture people (oil & gas cos.) are scrambling to lease the mineral rights. Desperately trying to reinvent themselves.