A mass extinction of insects is underway in nature reserves: in just 27 years, over 75% of populations have perished.

We are now striving to reform the entire existing global protected-area system, primarily because it is ineffective and even destructive! Instead of safeguarding wildlife, fragmented parcels of protected land are kept merely as reserves for future development. And already, step by step, governments are intruding into nature reserves, justifying it as an urgent “economic necessity.”

Unfortunately, even reserves are now rapidly degrading! We are talking about refuges for wildlife where animals and plants can still hide from humans.

Today I want to show you the true scale of the ongoing ecocide through a scientific study by researchers from Germany. This research is relevant to protected areas worldwide, because European conservation standards usually serve as the reference point for international practice.

Insects Are Dying Out

Human empathy is usually directed toward large animals, say, a hare, a fox, or birds. Insects, however, hardly evoke empathy, and therefore they are often ignored in any discussion—even when they are on the brink of total extinction.

Yet insects play a key and utterly irreplaceable role in the functioning of all ecosystems on Earth. They are one of the most ancient, numerous, and diverse groups of living beings! Even we humans depend on insects. Quite simply: 80–90 % of all flowering plants rely on insect pollination; their disappearance leads to the extinction of wild plants as well as the overwhelming majority of our agricultural crops.

If insects disappear, a cascading extinction of all life begins immediately. Without pollination, the entire food chain collapses—from plants to animals and humans.

In addition, insects play an important role in decomposing dead organisms, excrement, and plants. They promote the recycling of nutrients in the soil and maintain the balance of biological systems by controlling pests. Insects also provide a food base for larger animals: they are eaten by birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, fish, and other insects.

Thus, insects are the invisible yet truly fundamental framework of all global ecosystems! Their disappearance can cause a sharp collapse of ecosystems and the death of all life.

I must also mention what I regularly emphasize in my materials: a balanced insect community in the wild reduces the need for agro-chemicals and various pesticides in agriculture. When insect numbers decline, people begin to “treat” fields with ever-increasing amounts of poisons, which accelerates insect extinction and leads to an annual growth in pesticide use.

This is the uncontrolled cycle of global ecocide by human hands: poisons are dispersed— insects are killed—other dependent animal and plant species die in a chain! And so cyclically, year after year, without stopping—only in an ever-accelerating mode.

Now let’s turn to the scientific study. I’ll reveal the scientifically proven fact right in the title of the work, published on 18 October 2017: “More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying-insect biomass in protected areas.”

Let us immediately note two facts:

1. The study was published back in 2017—eight long years ago. Since then, environmental problems have only grown, and the global ecological collapse is becoming ever more destructive.

   
   
2. Scientists state that in Germany’s nature reserves (!) the abundance of all flying insects has fallen by more than 75 % in just the last 27 years.

I liked the research methodology: the scientists are truly dedicated to their work and spent 27 years simply to convey to us that the situation in the wild is CRITICAL! URGENT ACTION at the international level is needed to protect ecosystems.

To measure insect biomass, the specialists used Malaise traps—special mesh installations about 1 m high that intercept flying insects in flight. All traps were identical in design (two-color, Townes type); the mesh section and mounting characteristics did not differ between sites. This is vital for ensuring methodological consistency!

The traps were placed in clearings and forest edges, usually one per site, and operated continuously from spring to autumn. Roughly every 11 days, bottles with insects were removed from the traps—and this went on for 27 years straight!

Samples were stored in 80 % ethanol for preservation. Before weighing, a sample was filtered through a screen, excess alcohol was allowed to drip off (until the first 10-s pauses), and the insects with the remaining alcohol were weighed. The mass of the liquid was then subtracted to calculate the insects’ dry biomass to an accuracy of about 0.1 g.

Malaise traps collect a very broad spectrum of species (from low-flying flies to large butterflies and beetles), so the biomass obtained covers virtually the entire “average” flying entomofaunal community.

That’s all! For 27 years, all this was integrated into a single database, and the dynamics of insect-biomass decline were calculated. A precise method capable of PROVING the real catastrophe in ecosystems!

The study itself was carried out by a team of entomologist-practitioners—specialists who have worked “in the field” for decades. From 1989 to 2016, on 63 protected sites in the lowlands of western Germany, they installed Malaise traps—low mesh structures for collecting flying insects—and collected samples from them.

Analysis over decades showed an extremely sharp decline in total biomass of flying insects—even though we are talking specifically about nature reserves, refuges for wildlife.

Over 27 years the average biomass fell by 76 % (all-season), with peak summer declines reaching 82 %. Insect mortality was detected in every habitat type—that is, the die-off was not caused by weather changes and was definitely not tied to any particular environment.

Scientists’ quotations from the paper so you can grasp the true scale of the catastrophe:

“Our results document a dramatic decline of 76 % in the average biomass of flying insects (up to 82 % in midsummer) in just 27 years on protected areas in Germany.”

“…this indicates that not only vulnerable species have been affected, but the community of flying insects as a whole has been virtually eradicated in recent decades.”

“The loss of insect diversity and abundance is expected to trigger cascading effects in food webs and jeopardize ecosystem services.”

“The substantial and hitherto unrecognized loss of insect biomass that we report for protected areas adds a new dimension to this problem, as it is bound to cause cascading effects on trophic levels and many other ecosystem consequences.”

“Our results demonstrate that recently reported declines in many groups such as butterflies and bees coincide with the catastrophic loss of total flying-insect biomass, indicating that not only the vulnerable community but the entire community of flying insects has suffered.”

“Despite documented gradual declines in rare species, our results show the ongoing and rapid decrease in total numbers of spatially and temporally active flying insects.”

“The widespread decline in insect biomass is alarming, especially considering that all traps were located in protected areas intended to preserve ecosystem functioning and biodiversity.”

I examined several additional scientific papers by researchers from different countries. The German study fully aligns with them: meta-analyses show that roughly 50 % of all insects are in decline, and total biomass decreases annually by about 2–3 %, and in some places up to 5 %. Thus, the rates in Germany match: about 80 % (and accelerating) over 27 years, equivalent to roughly 4 % per year.

I also found many scientific reports from the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands—everywhere mass insect extinction is occurring at accelerating, critical rates!

People usually focus only on bees and butterflies as the most familiar pollinators, while all other insects are ignored. Unfortunately, this bias even affects research funding: scientists simply cannot conduct in-depth studies because no one cares or provides support. Consequently, pollinator problems remain unresolved—everyone knows the scale of the disasters, yet no one is in a hurry to act and make changes.

Now, in times of political and social crises, when states tear each other’s throats out for power and influence, does anyone even care about the death of all life around us? About the destruction of global ecosystems, the extinction of species, and the urgent need to act to save life?

After all, we’re not talking only about “bugs and critters,” not only about “some animals,” but about ourselves and our children. Our own habitat is being destroyed!

I want to highlight the most important points from the scientific study on insect extinction.

You have probably often heard people blame the extinction of animals and plants on climate change. Well, I quote the scientists:

“Our calculations show that landscape change and climate change are unlikely to explain this strong decline in insect biomass.”

So what is causing the massive insect die-off?

It’s very simple.

Almost all protected segments—what I call “fragmented reserves”—have ended up surrounded by industrial agriculture. Millions of agricultural fields are “treated” with agro-chemicals, destroying insect habitats and directly killing their populations.

A direct quote from the study:

“Source areas (protective zones) may be under heavy pressure from the fields around them. It is likely that increasing agricultural intensification has exacerbated the decline in insect numbers on protected areas over recent decades <…> Whatever these factors are, they exert far more destructive pressure on total insect biomass than previously thought.”

In other words, scientists state outright that the real harm to insects from industrial agriculture is far greater than biologists expected.

Eight years have passed since the study (as of 2025). During this time, the situation has worsened many times over: we are witnessing an accelerating global ecocide on Earth! Entire major animal communities are now dying out. According to an international meta-study for 2024, the number of all animals on the planet has decreased on average by 73 % in recent decades.

I repeat: all the world’s states must swiftly implement the Concept of Territories of Complete Ecological Tranquility (TPES). All remaining fragments of wild nature must be united into single refuges and placed under absolute protection.

Otherwise, very soon it will be too late to fix the situation!

We, comrades, must achieve the adoption of the TPES Concept. Wildlife needs refuges from humans!

© PAVEL PASHKOV