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Aaron Perry
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[Got Creepy Crawlies?] Author Vicki Hird, author of Rebugging the Planet: The Remarkable Things that Insects (and Other Invertebrates) Do – And Why We Need to Love Them More, shares her wisdom, knowledge, and insight about the integral ecological role of invertebrates and how we can help them recover after a devastating century of anthropogenic chemical-driven destruction. Vicki informs us that bugs are essential to global ecosystems, and that without them nearly 90% of flowering plants would die off! From the inspired works of Leonardo Da Vinci to the nearly indestructible Tardigrade (or “water bear,” which can survive unbelievable extremes, including radiation and the vacuum of space!), and from soil-based invertebrates to those living in the fresh water world-wide, our lives, culture, and fundamental reality of life as we know it are inextricably woven with our planet’s bugs.
Thus, Vicki encourages us to “be the voice for the bugs” and to “rebug” our yards, our communities, our agriculture, are society, and even our politicians and our consciousness! She discusses the importance of purchasing organic fruit, chocolate, and coffee in order to financial support agricultural methods that disallow the application of toxic chemicals, and encourages us to create chemical-free pollinator habitats at whatever scale we can, paying special attention to planting the “flat-topped” umbelliferae like yarrow, angelica, fennel, dill, coriander and cumin. She invites us to this and other “rewilding” actions in her book, which is published by Chelsea Green Publishing.
About Vicki Hird
Vicki Hird is the Strategic Leader for Agriculture at The Wildlife Trust and Head of the Sustainable Farming Campaign for Sustain: The Alliance for Better Food and Farming, and she also runs an independent consultancy. An experienced and award-winning environmental campaigner, researcher, writer, and strategist working mainly in the food, farming, and environmental policy arenas, Vicki has worked on government policy for many years and is also the author of Perfectly Safe to Eat? The Facts on Food.
Vicki’s passion is insects. The first pets she gave her children were a family of stick insects and she had a giraffe-necked weevil tattoo for her fiftieth birthday. Vicki also has a Masters in Pest Management and she is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society.
Resources & Related Episodes
X/Twitter: @vickihird
Instagram: @vickihird
35% Discount at Chelsea Green Publishing – use code: YOE35
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