Newspaper Column – The Cornishman – 24/08/26

Grab every chance to immerse yourself in nature. It anchors us to the realities of life, outside the frantic and gizmo-dominated world we inhabit, and the pressures and stresses of daily living. 

In the limited amount of ‘spare’ time I’ve had during the August parliamentary recess, I’ve taken opportunities to continue my own efforts to learn more about the remarkable lives of the creatures around us and to investigate the state of our local natural world. Two examples: 

1. I’ve been reviewing the resilience of the local glow worm population on the same transect for the last 7 years. Results indicate worrying decline. These incredible creatures are larvae for 3 years, after pupating for 10-15 days, then emerge as adults. Adult glow worms CANNOT FEED (an astonishing example of selflessness in nature?) so only live for 14-21 days! Females (who do most of the glowing!)  mate and lay 50-200 eggs before the inevitable. 

1. I’ve also spent a couple of hours some weekends supporting a long-standing butterfly transect survey; the location where the internationally rare Silver-studded Blue (SSB) has a local stronghold. Like so many butterflies they’ve remarkable relationships with other creatures. Their caterpillars have a SPECIAL BOND with black ants, which protect them in their nests in exchange for a sweet fluid.  

This year’s surveys indicate a shocking 75% SSB decline since last year. They’re not “on the wing” from late August. But we did see and recorded many Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Small Whites and a few Painted Ladies, a Red Admiral, Common Blue, Small Heath, Clouded Yellow and more. Many species have struggled this summer with limited nectar sources.  

We’ve been fortunate this summer to have had unusually large swarms of African/ Mediterranean visitors – Painted Ladies, followed by Clouded Yellows. I’m always fascinated how the “offspring” of these visitors have IN THEIR NATURE THE KNOWLEDGE how to MIGRATE BACK to their winter grounds thousands of miles to the south! Though not yet fully understood, they seem to be guided by genetically hard-wired behavioural responses to falling temperatures, shorter daylight hours, and the declining quality of their preferred host plants, to “pack their bags” and go! Much like their avian compatriots – cuckoos (how on earth do they know how to get back home?), swifts, sand martins, swallows, house martins etc.  

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted nations on earth. However, many people are fighting to restore our natural world. Spending time in the presence of nature helps us appreciate the foundational web of our own existence and perhaps to our biological origins. Many view these encounters as an essential source to reinvigorate their inner strength.  

Governments committed in 2020 to a 30-by-30 target (ie 30% of the country in nature recovery by 2030). But on land we’ve only achieved 7% with 4 years to go. The government’s recently announced Tiered Delivery Plan is welcome. But there’s so much more to do.