- Insects, representing over two-thirds of known biodiversity, provide critical ecosystem services such as pollination, pest regulation, decomposition, nutrient cycling, and water purification.
- Despite their ecological and cultural importance, insect populations are plummeting.
- Integrating insect-mediated services into national accounting systems, coupled with targeted subsidies, restoration, and adaptive governance, is critical to preventing irreversible ecological collapse.
- The views in the commentary are that of the authors.
Insects, the most diverse group of fauna, account for over two-thirds of known biodiversity and perform countless essential functions that sustain ecosystems. Represented by over 5.5 million extant species, of which 90% remain hitherto unnamed, the full extent of their ecological roles remains largely unmapped. As vital providers of services such as pollination, decomposition, aquatic purification, and pest regulation, they support the stability, resilience, and productivity of ecosystems.
Role in the ecosystem and food systems
Globally, about 87 major food crops depend on insect pollination, accounting for approximately 35% of the world’s food production, contributing to around 40% of the global supply of essential micronutrients. The estimated economic value of insect-mediated pollination services ranges between $235 and $577 billion annually. Decomposition and nutrient cycling by termites, dung beetles, and fly larvae, further play silent yet fundamental roles in maintaining soil health, organic matter turnover, and overall productivity. In freshwater systems, aquatic insects purify water and uphold stream ecosystem integrity. In the U.S. alone, the annual economic value of four services, viz. pest control, pollination, wildlife food, and dung burial remains estimated at $57 billion, of which the foremost accounts for ~$4.5 billion, significantly reducing pesticide reliance and safeguarding crop yields.
Insects have also shaped cultural and symbolic significance across civilisations. In China, the domestication of silkworms not only revolutionised textile production but catalysed the Silk Road, shaping centuries of trade and cultural exchange. In India, indigenous communities have long sustained relationships with insects, reinforcing biodiversity, food security, and rural livelihoods. Several Northeast Indian tribes traditionally consume over 30 species of edible insects, providing high-protein, low-emission dietary alternatives to conventional livestock, supporting ecologically resilient food systems. In the Western Ghats, the Kani tribes practice traditional beekeeping with stingless bees that support forest-edge pollination and biodiversity. In Himachal Pradesh, beekeepers manage around 90,000 honeybee colonies, producing approximately 1,700 MT of honey annually, valued at ₹40-50 crores with research indicating that beekeeping augments apple yields, while diversifying income.
Decline in the Anthropocene
Despite their indispensable roles, insects are undergoing rapid and catastrophic declines marked by insidious reductions in species and populations. A 27-year study in Germany’s protected areas revealed a 75% decline in flying insect biomass, while in Puerto Rico’s Luquillo rainforest, arthropod biomass fell 10-60-fold between 1976 and 2012, accompanied by collapses in insectivorous bird and amphibian populations. A global meta-analysis indicates that approximately 40% of insect species face unnamed extinctions in coming decades.
The drivers are multifactorial and synergistic with habitat loss from agricultural intensification, urban sprawls, and deforestation, being most significant. Systemic pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids and fipronil, contaminate nectar, pollen, soil, and water, impairing insect navigation, reproduction, and immunity. Climate change introduces further stress through altered temperatures, rainfall, and seasonality, disrupting species interactions and phenology. Even within protected areas, light pollution, airborne chemicals, and invasive species undermine ecosystem integrity. The effects cascade as poorer habitat quality and soil fertility, collapsed food webs, and heightened agricultural vulnerability.
Conservation neglect
Notwithstanding mounting evidence, insect conservation remains marginal in global biodiversity efforts with only 19% of described insect species found within protected areas, while 76% receive little to no conservation. Insect-mediated services remain largely excluded from mainstream valuation frameworks and poorly reflected in policy, institutional priorities, and market mechanisms. The deep-seated “charisma bias” privileges large mammals and birds in conservation planning and funding. Even among insects, attention is disproportionately concentrated toward familiar taxa like butterflies and dragonflies, leaving crucial but inconspicuous groups under-represented. Moreover, research remains biased toward temperate regions, despite tropical regions holding the majority of global insect diversity. Further, most international strategies, including the Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at COP15, either ignore insects altogether or address them obliquely, through pesticide reduction or general restoration goals, signalling a deep policy blind spot.
Conservation policy, practice, and innovation
Despite the biodiversity value and conservation investment mismatch, several initiatives such as More than Flower Strips, Xerces Society’s Pollinator Conservation Program, Pollinator Health Task Force, Aktionsprogramm Insektenschutz, etc., represent significant efforts to integrate insects into biodiversity agendas.
Broadly, several evidence-based solutions pathways remain identified. These include landscape-scale habitat recovery corridors that integrate pollinator-friendly strips and native flowering vegetation across agricultural landscapes to increase pollinator abundance and crop yield; pesticide regulation and substitution policies which restrict high-risk systemic insecticides and promote biocontrol methods to allow wild‐pollinator recovery and ecosystem service rebound; and economic accounting of insect services where insect-mediated services are embedded into national accounts using SEEA and Gross Ecosystem Product frameworks to reflect true value and avoidance costs. The pathways also include monitoring and citizen-science in tropical regions which includes expanding participatory monitoring (e.g., UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme) to biodiverse but data-deficient tropics for early detection and adaptive policy; and value-chain and supply-chain transparency where initiatives like the Insect Responsible Sourcing Regions are scaled and buyers, municipalities and farmers coordinate for pollinator-safe produce.
Time is running out. Insects sustain the foundations of life including food, climate, and health. Their decline signals deep ecological imbalance but also holds the opportunity for recovery if pressures are eased. Safeguarding them demands calibrated, science-based policies, inclusive monitoring, and global investment.
Read more: Rohini Balakrishnan on why (and how) we must listen to insects [Interview]
Irina Das Sarkar is an assistant manager for the Nature Policy, Research, and Consulting team and Madhu Verma is the Senior Economic Advisor and Chief Environmental Economist at Iora Ecological Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Banner image: Edible insects being caught for consumption in Arunachal Pradesh. Image by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.
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