The second round of this year’s nationwide hands-on campaign “Insect Summer” by the German Nature Conservation Union (Nabu) will start on Friday. Interested parties can then discover the world of the six-legged friends for an hour in gardens, parks, on balconies and meadows or in the forest, as the organization announced in advance. In the Nabu “insect summer”, participants can observe and count in two periods: Now from August 5th to 14th and already in the first half of June. The observations are to be reported using an online form or a free app.
This year, the focus of the campaign is particularly on bumblebees: The discovery question for 2022 is “Can you spot bumblebees by their buttocks?”. According to Nabu, the field bumblebee, the stone bumblebee and the ground bumblebee are the most common in this country. Among other things, they can be distinguished at the tip of the rear part – yellow-brownish, orange-reddish, white-greyish – according to the Nabu experts. They advise balconies and gardens that are as natural and rich in flowers as possible to support the plush animals.
According to the announcement, project manager Daniela Franzisi emphasized how important it is to raise awareness of the diversity of native insects and their importance. “You only protect what you know and the insect summer offers the wonderful opportunity to experience an exciting nature adventure during the holiday season.” Whether with friends or family – discovering the world of insects and nature is not only fun, but also promotes knowledge of species.
According to Nabu, almost 13,000 interested people took part in the counting campaign last year – and the organization is hoping for a similar level of commitment this year. “It’s nice when so many people take time for nature,” said Nabu Federal Managing Director Leif Miller.
