FROM BUGKIFE WITH BUGBYTES — ITS THE SMALL THAT REALY MATTERS

 

Dear John Welcome to the December edition of Buglife's e-newsletter, BugBytes! Keeping you up to date with invertebrate news, interesting snippets of information and so much more. This has been a big year for Buglife! Our team has grown to over 50 staff members and so much has been achieved throughout the year on our projects, surveys, campaigns and more. Buglife will be celebrating 25 years of invertebrate conservation in 2025. So, with the New Year fast approaching, join us in looking back at some of the highlights from 2024 as we prepare for another successful year ahead.     Bugs Matter Our 2024 Bugs Matter survey had the greatest level of participation to date! A total of 8,850 journeys were made, covering over 250,000 miles. We were also delighted to partner with Openreach and their commercial van fleet this year, who in no small part helped us reach this level of success. Thank you to all the citizen scientists who took part from May to September and helped us collect this crucial data which continues to highlight the alarming decline in insect abundance. The data from the 2024 survey is now being analysed and the full results are set to be published in the spring. Bugs Matter continues to serve as a stark reminder of the importance of our work and your support for invertebrates.     Soaking Up the Sun, Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) © Sam Merriman-Johnson  Read the Bugs Matter 2024 Round Up          Target Smashing Growth on the B-Lines Network We have continued to expand pollinator pathways in 2024, ensuring that these life-saving corridors are delivering vital habitats across the UK. We now have 1,878 sites on our B-Lines map and have already exceeded our end of 2025 target by 3,000 hectares.  In 2024, we also saw the completion of three B-Lines projects, ‘Strathmore B-lines ~ People & Pollinators in Strathmore ’, ‘Belfast’s Buzzing! Creating B-lines for pollinators and people ’, our first B-Lines project in Northern Ireland, and finally, ‘Get The Marches Buzzing! ’. Here’s to continuing the success of B-Lines for pollinators and people in 2025!   Wildflower plug planting on Get The Marches Buzzing © Rick Shaw   Explore our B-Lines Map   Keeping Invertebrates on the Agenda Thanks to our campaigning efforts, the impact of noise and light pollution on wildlife was included at COP16 in Columbia. It was the first time that light pollution has featured in an official side event at the Convention on Biological Diversity and gave global decision makers the chance to address neglected pollutants through global action. We were also pleased to learn that the Invasive Non-Native Species Inspectorate is no longer a pilot project! This is a significant milestone for the environment as the inspectorate has a vital role in increasing biosecurity and preventing INNS from establishing in Great Britain. It has been a long-term ask from Buglife and the Wildlife and Countryside Link INNS Group and is the first victory on our Manifesto for Bugs!     An Awarding Year! The end of 2024 saw the announcement of the National Biodiversity Network Trust (NBN) Awards 2024, and Buglife Scotland’s very own Scotland and Northern Ireland Manager, Rebecca Lewis, was nominated as a finalist in the Terrestrial Wildlife Recording 2024 category. We would like to say a huge congratulations not only to the winners and highly commended recipients, but to Rebecca too, for placing in the top five of a highly competitive national award scheme.         The awards didn’t stop there! Buglife’s Conservation Director, Craig Macadam, received the Marsh Award for Entomology in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the study of invertebrates.  Our Aberdeen B-Lines project came runner up for the Wright Sustainability Award at the 2024 Keep Scotland Beautiful Awards. It’s a privilege to work alongside colleagues so dedicated to invertebrate conservation and to have our projects recognised for their positive impact. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating the team’s achievements!   Saving the Wick Our Middlewick Ranges campaign hit another milestone in the last month by reaching the initial funding target of our crowdfunding appeal. The money raised via this appeal will be used to cover the cost of specialist solicitors, barristers and expert advisors to help Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Colchester Natural History Society, CPRE Essex, Essex Field Club, Essex Wildlife Trust and the Friends of Middlewick save the Middlewick Ranges from development. Nearly 1,500 invertebrates have been found on the Ranges, including 167 species of conservation concern. Incredibly, a quarter of all the UK’s spider species have been recorded, such as the Vulnerable Six-spotted Mouse-spider (Phaeocedus braccatus). This one site is also home to a quarter of all of Essex’s recorded butterflies and moths.     Middlewick Ranges Community Campaigners © Richard Martin   Support our Legal Campaign    Christmas Appeal We have almost reached the halfway point on our GiveMatch Christmas Appeal target. All funds raised from this campaign will support the exciting work planned for 2025 and thanks to GiveMatch, donations can be doubled until the end of December. Thank you to those who have already donated and shared our Christmas Appeal! Once you’ve donated please remember to share your personalised donate link to ensure your donation is doubled.  Supporters using your donate link don’t have to match your donation, as long as they pledge £1 or more your donation will be doubled.     Help Save Bugs this Christmas!     Upcoming Events Tuesday 7 January ~ How many Moths and Butterflies? The Importance of Taxonomy with the Biological Recording Company (Online) Wednesday 8 January ~ Walk the Wick! (Canvey Wick Nature Reserve) Wednesday 8 January ~ Dragonflies of the UK Part 1 with The Biological Recording Company (Online) Monday 13 January ~ Earthworms of the UK Part 3 with The Biological Recording Company (Online) Monday 20 January ~ Bumblebees of the UK Part 2 with The Biological Recording Company (online) Tuesday 21 January ~ Molluscs on the March: Engaging the Public with Mollusc Collections with The Biological Recording Company (Online) Friday 24 January ~ Crayfish 1: Planning Your Survey with The Biological Recording Company (Online) Sunday 26 January ~ Scrub Bashing at East Soar with Life on the Edge (East Soar) Wednesday 29 January ~ Walk the Wick! (Canvey Wick Nature Reserve)   Keep up to date with both current and future Buglife events, as well as events from partners and supporters by visiting the Events Page on our website.     News in Brief   First ever images captured of the elusive Bermuda Sac Spider Buglife has received the first ever images of a little-known endemic spider in Bermuda, thanks to photographs submitted by local resident, Clare Russell. Confirmation of the species was made by Senior Conservation Officer at Buglife, Danni Sherwood, a leading authority on arachnids and Project Manager of the Supporting Atlantic Territories Invertebrate Conservation project. “The Bermuda Sac Spider was only discovered in the 1980s, and until now, was known only from scientific illustrations. The fact that we now know what it looks like when alive is important information which will help us with our future research on the island. It demonstrates the power of citizen science in furthering our understanding of these little-known species- who knows what else inquisitive members of the public could discover?”, explains Buglife Senior Conservation Officer, Danni. Find out more...      Buglife Shop   The Buglife shop is open for all your invertebrate needs, offering more ethical options and ways to support bugs.  Why not make the most of the extended FREE UK shipping offer in our Teemill store from Friday 3 January, ending midnight Sunday 5 January?  So whether you've got "Ants in your Pants" or your "Going At a Snails Pace" by visiting our shop you'll help bugs in the process!   Shop Now And Finally... Don't forget you can stay up to date with the work of the Buglife team via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube !  Thank you for your continued interest in and support of our work; together we can save the small things that run the planet!     Join Buglife Unsubscribe Company No. 4132695   |   Registered Charity No. 1092293  |  Scottish Charity No.SC040004 Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust is a company limited by guarantee Registered in England at G.06, Allia Future Business Centre, London Road, Peterborough, PE2 8AN