Have they all buzzed off? Insect diversity and -mortality in Central and Eastern Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Have they all buzzed off? Insect diversity and -mortality in Central and Eastern Europe

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; Social/environmental responsibility of educational institutions; Natural sciences

Project Summary

Have they all buzzed off? Insect diversity in Middle and Eastern Europe.

There is a massive decline in insect numbers and their disappearance often goes unnoticed. It is however our duty to retain insects for future generations. Not only do they perform useful ecological services such as pollination, pest control and furthering the nutrient cycle inside ecosystems, but like every other species on earth, they also have the right to live. Consequently, the European Commission declared an “EU Pollinators Initiative” to combat the disappearance of pollinators in June 2018, the year of Cultural Heritage. The European Parliament called for a “European Bee and Pollination Week” and the German government for a “Programme for the Protection of Insects” with nine fields of action.

Europe’s landscapes are largely cultural landscapes that have arisen historically through the work of humans and their domesticated animals. Through their historical and current usage they determine our feeling of local identity and offer guidance in how we should behave with regard to the sustainable protection of Europe’s natural heritage. Cultural landscapes show connections between the economy and the environment and therefore where our natural resources come from and in which direction they are developing. It is therefore worthwhile not only to take a closer look at the ecosystems of insects in our own country but also to compare these with those of our European partners.

In the form of a West to East transect, 40 students and 21 teachers from both schools will compare the insect populations of the Southern Hunsrück near Bad Kreuznach with those of Transylvania around Sibiu/Hermannstadt. The results of the research will lead to one central causal hypotheses: Landscape and land-use structures of each cultural landscape.

Our cultural landscapes are a link between the past and the future and the condition they are in is clearly a central factor in insect mortality. Out of this knowledge there is a growing awareness for the necessity of europeaninsect protection coupled with a change in behaviour strategies in our agricultural practices with which we can win our insects back. We need varied landscape structures, flower meadows and blooming pasture land, and to stop using insecticides and herbicides in horticulture and agriculture.

Project Website

http://www.alfred-delp-schule.de/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 64779 Eur

Project Coordinator

Alfred-Delp-Schule -Gymnasium- in Tr. des Bistums Trier & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Colegiul National Samuel von Brukenthal