The alarming rate of insect extinction will shake the foundations of biodiversity, and humans are not helping

Imagine a world without bees. Norwegian author Maja Lunde does it brilliantly in her novel, The History of Bees (2015), sketching a haunting story of the past, present and future of three generations of beekeepers and placing it in the backdrop of a global crisis.

Set in China at the end of the 21st century, the story has people hand-painting pollen on fruit trees because pollinating bees have disappeared from earth. The book speculates how the death of bees could cascade into the collapse of civilisation. It’s a gripping tale of the strong bond between a parent and her child that is also about the inextricable relationship between nature and humanity.

The novel’s depiction of dystopian human acts is now increasingly seconded by scientists. A study in the journal Biological Conservation recently made headlines for suggesting that 40% of all insect species are in decline and could become extinct in the coming decades.

Birds and bees

The report singles out a few groups of insects that are particularly threatened — pollinators like bees, butterflies, moths and dung beetles, and other insects that help decompose detritus and faeces. If we don’t stop this decline, entire ecosystems will collapse, the researchers said.

There are many reasons for this catastrophic fall, but it’s mostly human activities like deforestation, loss of habitats, converting land to farmland and biodiversity destruction. With agriculture comes increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The worldwide decline in honey and wild bee populations has been linked to neonicotinoids, which are found in more that a quarter of all pesticides.

Climate change driven by human interventions also plays a big role because extreme weather events such as droughts and floods are fatal to insects as well. Ironically, as the planet warms up and before an insect apocalypse takes place, many species of mosquitoes, cockroaches, flies and farm pests will actually multiply, particularly in tropical counties like India.

Insects make up the majority of critters living on land. They provide food for birds, pollinate two-thirds of all crops, replenish soil and keep pests in check. Our planet is home to an amazing 7 million species of insects and arthropods, who play a crucial role in the food chain. The food web suffers when insect numbers decrease. This has serious consequences for the survival of humans.

For food’s sake

The food we cultivate depends so much on pollinators like bees. It means that with no bees, we would simply starve. Unless we are able to change the ways we produce food (by not overusing fertilizers and pesticides), there will be no saving of many insect species from extinction.

It is now well known that industrial-scale intensive agriculture, practised in the West, and increasingly in India as well, is killing ecosystems. The counterpoint is organic farming. Studies have found that organic farms harbour far more insects than farms using chemicals. But the adoption of organic farming has been too slow.

It is difficult for us to learn our lessons quickly. Although we know that preservation of forests is required for many insect species to thrive, the pressure on natural reserves is unremitting.

As much as a third of all protected areas worldwide, which cover 15% of all land, has become degraded due to building of roads and cities and the grazing of livestock, says a study published in Science journal.

As India urbanises at a fast clip, many people living in its cities and towns have lost touch with the countryside and nature. As a result, we are often ignorant about the role natural ecosystems play in our lives. This must change. We must realise that the food we buy off supermarket shelves does not appear out of thin air. It must be grown, and if we don’t have insects to facilitate that, we are in deep trouble.

The writer is Managing Editor of IndiaClimateDialogue.net. Twitter: @scurve