Rebugging the Planet The Remarkable Things that Insects (and Other Invertebrates) Do – And Why We Need to Love Them More, reviewed

We look at this paean to bugs, insects and all sorts of creepy crawlies. Written by Vicki Hird and published by Chelsea Green.

Rebugging the Planet reviewed

Vicki Hird is passionate about insects and this book does a great job of communicating this enthusiasm to a wider audience. It is an important issue to ensure that we do everything we can to protect and encourage insects in all their forms to thrive on earth. The value of bees and the issues they face has been well documented but Hird expertly explains why we need to be conscious of the value of many other insects too. It also inspired us to create twig and branch heaps with our pruning, to encourage bug life rather than use them as kindling.

The book has lots of practical solutions and good ideas to help encourage us all to do more to protect and support invertebrates everywhere. It is concise, well written and we would encourage you to read this book and take as many actions as possible.  Even if you find them squeamish they actually do more good than you might realise,  and this book does a good job of explaining how they help.

More about the book

Meet the intelligent insects, marvelous minibeasts, and inspirational invertebrates that help shape our planet—and discover how you can help them help us by rebugging your attitude today!

Remember when there were bugs on your windshield? Ever wonder where they went? We need to act now if we are to help the insects survive. Robin Wall Kimmerer, David Attenborough, and Elizabeth Kolbert are but a few voices championing the rewilding of our world. Rebugging the Planet explains how we are headed toward “insectageddon” with a rate of insect extinction eight times faster than that of mammals or birds, and gives us crucial information to help all those essential creepy-crawlies flourish once more.

Author Vicki Hird passionately demonstrates how insects and invertebrates are the cornerstone of our global ecosystem. They pollinate plants, feed birds, support and defend our food crops, and clean our water systems. They are also beautiful, inventive, and economically invaluable—bees, for example, contribute an estimated $235 to $577 billion to the US economy annually, according to Forbes.

Rebugging the Planet shows us small changes we can make to have a big impact on our littlest allies:

• Learn how to rewild parks, schools, sidewalks, roadsides, and other green spaces.
• Leave your garden to grow a little wild and plant weedkiller-free, wildlife-friendly plants.
• Take your kids on a minibeast treasure hunt and learn how to build bug palaces.
• Make bug-friendly choices with your food and support good farming practices
• Begin to understand how reducing inequality and poverty will help nature and wildlife too—it’s all connected.

So do your part and start rebugging today! The bees, ants, earthworms, butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, ladybugs, snails, and slugs will thank you—and our planet will thank you too.

More about the author

About Vicki Hird

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