When your masterpiece is completed, all you have to do is post it on your instagram account using the #makemoreinsects hashtag and you automatically enter the competition.
Not an Instagram user? No problem – you can also email your artwork to info@pestival.org and we will upload it to our Instagram and hashtag it on your behalf.
All contributions will appear on the Pestival website. We also appreciate you tag @Pestivalofficial.
Are there more creatives among your friends and family? Make sure you let them know what you are doing and involve them too.
Insects account for 80% of animal life on Earth. They are vital for the function of life on our planet – pollinating food and maintaining ecosystems.
Approx 80% of the world’s plant life depends on pollination.
Insects are part of social and cultural heritage in every region of the planet.
50-90% of the human diet, in terms of volume of calories, relies on insects.
We have lost 50% or more of our insects since 1970, and 41% of the remaining 5 million insect species are now threatened with extinction.
Insects are estimated to provide ecological services worth £256bn annually worldwide, and they did it all without pay or thanks from us!
With over 5.5 million species, insects are by far the most diverse group of animals.
To keep up with our human population increase and its need for consumption, intensive farming and pollutants such as pesticides and fertilisers are on the rise (again). This destruction of habitat, uproots hedgerows, creates monoculture farming and leaves no space for the insects.
On top of this expanding urbanisation and fragmented surviving patches of habit have left the insects with no wildflower corridors.
Meanwhile in the tropical regions, climate change is emerging as a major threat to insect populations. Rainforests have largely been stable for a long time,so insects can’t adapt to the change quick enough and just die off.
If you catch the bug whilst creating your own. We’d love you to get more involved at being an insect champion and saving a few more along the way.
Do role your sleeves up and get involved in planting hedgerows and meadows with your local insect charity.
Restoring and managing wildflower meadows is one of the easiest ways to help slow the decline of insects.
Do write to your local MP demanding that pesticides (and neonicotinoids in particular) stop being reintroduced into farming.
Don’t use pesticides in your garden or window box or buy cut flowers that are sprayed with pesticides.
Don’t become an urban beekeeper – transpires its competition for the local wild bees.
Don’t eat pesticides – farmers should not have to choose between farming and nature, we should be prioritising alternative pesticides.
No Insectinction – how to solve the insect declines crisis
Buglife
Action for insects
Wildlife Trusts
Say no to neonics
Wildlife Trusts
Pesticide giants make billions from bee-harming and other hazardous chemicals
Greenpeace
14 facts you need to know about bees
Friends of the Earth
Brexit rules mean 15m baby bees may be seized and burned, says beekeeper
The Guardian
Dozens of bee species extinct or on verge of disappearing across UK
The Independent