Drivers & Repercussions of UK Insect Declines (DRUID project): Factsheets for Schools (e.g. KS4) and the General Public.

DRUID is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), as part of its 6th round of Highlight topic funding on “Understanding, predicting and mitigating the cross-ecosystem impacts of insect decline on ecosystem services and natural capital” (https://nerc.ukri.org/research/portfolio/strategic/topics/). More information about DRUID can be found here (https://druidproject.org.uk/) The DRUID team created and released three factsheets all aimed at Key Stage 4 (KS4) students. Each factsheet includes simple, readable statements on what the DRUID project found and key messages from our project. Each factsheet is typically less than 300 words and is accompanied alongside engaging photographs, cartoons and insightful graphs. Importantly, the factsheets all finish with a call to action, summarising what must change to help insects recover and reverse declines. Factsheet 1: What's been causing changes in UK insect populations?Factsheet 2: Are declines in insects putting UK birds and bats on rations?Factsheet 3: More habitat for insects can deliver both public wellbeing and economic benefits?A fourth factsheet focussing on monitoring insects has been drafted and is awaiting final design and publication. Additionally, the project developed a four-minute animation, again aimed at KS4 students as well as the general public. The animation tackled the question posed in Factsheet 1, providing more insight on whether UK insect populations declining, and what’s causing the changes. https://youtu.be/4Y86R_Zxqu8