Page 16 - Dainfern Precinct October 2021

Hey!
BOOK REVIEW

What about

INSECTS?

BY JAMES CLARKE

he general public, by inclination, tends to view reported alarming declines of insect populations with as many
conservationists as people concerned mostly with as half of the world’s insects so rapidly declining that one
Tsaving the big, hairy and cuddly. Unfair, perhaps, yet third may already be threatened with extinction. Without quick
maybe we conservationists deserve that rather narrow image. intervention to slow or reverse the situation, the environmental
consequences are likely to be catastrophic.
These were my thoughts after spending hours reading – or,
rather, compulsively and happily browsing one of the most
browsable books I have ever come across: Pollinators,
Predators & Parasites published by Struik Nature.

I found myself, figuratively at least, sitting bolt upright soon
after I opened the book. I realised how conservationists (and
I include myself) and our institutions, have signally failed to
recognise the pivotal role of insects when it comes to human
survival and the threats building up against the 50 000 or so
recognised South African species.
BEAT LOAD SHEDDING! SAVE ON YOUR BILL!
Not that this 450 page book was intended to be yet another
‘green’ exhortation. It is, basically, a delightful book of serious PROFIT FROM YOUR FEED-IN TARIFF!
science filled with excellent illustrations (1 600 photographs
alone) and bite-sized, though intricate, texts describing
individual species, their anatomy, their incredibly diverse but
critically important roles in the various ecosystems and their
status.  TURN YOUR BUSINESS OR HOME


It made me wonder how many of us conservationists are
currently aware of the seriousness of the decline in the 
populations of critically important species here and overseas.  INTO A SOLAR POWERHOUSE!

According to the foreword by Johan 
van Zyl, Pretoria University’s 

vice-chancellor and professor 
of agriculture, “Disturbing  
recent studies have
Among the species in decline is the honey bee. It is native
to Africa and Europe from where it was introduced to the NO GUESSWORK, WE MEASURE! WE REPAIR BOTCH JOBS
Americas, Asia and Oceania. Worldwide studies are revealing
serious declines in its population yet the insect is critical to
human survival for it pollinates most of the crops on which we 
depend. Its numbers are dropping because of various factors 
and not just the indiscriminate use of insecticides as farming ACCREDITED
Female Dung Beetle. Photo by Meagen Mansell becomes industrialised.
2 14 
DPL