AMBITIOUS targets to reduce pesticides need to be set to reverse declines in bees, butterflies and other insects, Cumbria wildlife experts have urged.

The call from the Cumbria Wildlife Trust comes as a national report is published highlighting efforts to help insects across the country. Already staff and volunteers have embarked on projects across the county designed to mange farmland, road verges, parks, churchyards, schools and gardens.

Growing evidence shows many insects are in rapid decline, such as UK butterfly populations which are down more than 50 percent since 1976, the report said. The decline has impacts for farming, which relies on beneficial insects for pollination, keeping down pests and soil health, and for a host of plants and animals from birds to bats and hedgehogs.

‘Reversing the decline of insects’ has led to the trust working with communities, local Councils and Highways England sowing and planting wildflower superhighways from Penrith to the uplands of the Lake District. Many sites are already showing an increase in wildflowers and insects.

Stephen Trotter, CEO of Cumbria Wildlife Trust, says: “Insects are in real trouble and this excellent report shows us how we can reverse the declines of recent decades. We should look after and take action for insects, not only because they’re amazing in their own right but also because all of us depend on their activities.They pollinate many of our crops, they clean up the environment and play a key role in a healthy environment."

Tanya St. Pierre, Project Manager for Get Cumbria Buzzing, says they've worked hard to create 83 hectares of pollinator-friendly habitat at 108 different sites."With the help of partners, volunteers, and local communities, we’ve planted over 50,000 wildflower plugs, sown over 100kg of wildflower seed, and added over 200 native spring flowering trees, to help to create a nature recovery network for our pollinating insects."

To help insects, the Wildlife Trusts are calling for an ambitious pesticide reduction target that is as good as, if not better than, the EU’s proposal to halve the overall use of pesticides by 2030.