Current UK conservation policies fail to protect important insect species such as bees which 'are vital for our everyday lives and future existence', according to new research from the University of Aberdeen.
Love them or loathe them, insects provide a wealth of daily resources, from chocolates to cold remedies but researchers Natalie Duffus and Dr Juliano Morimoto warn that current conservation policies are falling short of protecting them from the threat of extinction.
Published in Biological Conservation today the researchers assert that current policies are biased and ineffective and are failing to protect a large portion of insect biodiversity in the UK and Ireland.
The team analysed key conservation policies already in place and found that some groups of insects including butterflies and moths were more stringently protected than others, such as flies and bees, species that are known to be equally important and which have undergone recent known extinctions in the UK and Ireland.
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