Developing insect conservation: Concluding thoughts

Abstract

Insect conservation is now accepted widely as a major need in considering Earth's biodiversity, and the preceding chapters have summarised some of the major steps by which the discipline has gradually been fostered and become 'respectable' on conservation agendas through both regulatory (more widely, political) recognition and scientific worth, and through the dedicated guidance of individuals committed to the belief that the enterprise is worthwhile, even vital. Both ethical and practical grounds for conservation have gained wide acknowledgement, and policy has matured in parallel to accept insects (and other invertebrates), albeit in some cases reluctantly, in considerations of 'biodiversity'. Whilst practical conservation is based, as far as possible, on sound biological understanding, and effective advocacy to gain public/community sympathy, much insect conservation has its origins in scenarios of very limited knowledge and unsympathetic perception of its worth. Many insects targeted for conservation have little tangible or practical value to people, other than idealistic wishes to prevent their extinction or declines, as part of our biotic heritage - and in some instances countered by advocacy to eradicate 'bugs' as pests, still the more common public image of insects in general. Campaigns for most species selected as conservation targets have been fostered through the zeal of single or few advocates, and the species are - almost by definition - rare and difficult to study quantitatively. Management has necessarily been initiated without detailed autecological knowledge of many of the species targeted, and refined by 'on the job' experiences as the conservation programmes develop and are refined. Much of the later development has served, progressively, to consolidate the initial templates for action, reduce the risks involved from management actions, and so increase confidence in the measures taken. And much of the wider progress in insect conservation has been driven by economic concerns and drawn on experiences from pest management, with the practical outcomes having serious economic consequences for humankind.