Kent is witnessing an 'alarming decline' in flying insect numbers say those behind a project which asks people to count bug splats on their number plates.

Results from citizen survey Bugs Matter paint a bleak picture of the county with latest recordings revealing insect numbers have plummeted by close to three quarters since 2004.

Kent is also witnessing a greater and more rapid decline in population numbers compared to the UK as a whole - with the county calculated at having a 74% drop in the number of bug splats in 2022 compared to a 64% national average.

The Bugs Matter citizen science survey - overseen by charities Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife every summer - uses an innovative method for the large-scale surveying of flying insects in the UK and involves people recording numbers of insect splats on vehicle number plates after a journey.

Counting insects not only gives an estimate of the abundance of insect life, say organisers, but is also a measure of the health of the environment so when numbers fall it can be an early indication that nature is in trouble.

Numbers in Kent - say organisers - have been steadily falling for a few years and at a faster rate compared to the rest of the country, which means it is unlikely that last year's hot summer makes the results a one-off.

While last year's heatwave may be a contributing factor, the loss of habitat, ongoing use of chemicals and pesticides, the impact of climate change and increases in numbers of invasive species which both spread disease and feast off native insect populations also all have a role to play.

While Kent's fruit-filled orchards, rolling hills and fertile farmland have earned it the title as The Garden of England, a sharp decline in insect numbers could change its role as one of the most-valued food production regions, warns Kent Wildlife Trust, because crops like oilseed rape, strawberries, tomatoes and apples all flourish from wild insect pollination.

The news also comes a week after the government permitted emergency use of the banned pesticide thiamethoxam on sugar beet crops in England for the third year running. A single teaspoon of the neonicotinoid pesticide - claim wildlife experts - is enough to kill 1.25 billion bees.

Andrew Whitehouse from Buglife explained: "For the second year running, Bugs Matter has shown potentially catastrophic declines in the abundance of flying insects in Kent and across the UK. It doesn’t have to be this way, but urgent action is required to address the loss of the diversity and abundance of insect life. We need to make more space for wildlife and reconnect the wild parts of our landscapes, and we must free our land and freshwaters from pesticides and other pollutants."

Kent Wildlife Trust says it is now working with farmers across Kent in ‘Farmer Clusters’ to support collaborative working and drive forward wildlife-friendly farming practices.

Dr Lawrence Ball from Kent Wildlife Trust added: "The data we’re generating means that for the first time we can get a county-wide estimate of how insect populations are changing over time.

"The results from these first few years are concerning, but we need more citizen scientists to record more journeys across more of our road network every year, to understand the long-term trends in insect numbers in Kent."

Attention is now focused on this summer's survey, which begins on June 1, with the Bugs Matter team currently making upgrades to the app including a trial of artificial intelligence to automatically detect the number of insect splats on a number plate.

The RSPB, which conducted its latest Big Garden Birdwatch last weekend, has also revealed this week fears that climate change is starting to dramatically alter the behaviour of some species.

Observations collected by the survey, in which people spend an hour counting numbers of garden birds near to where they live, point to an increase in the number of birds nesting unseasonably early.

Alongside being out of character for the time of year the RSPB says fledgling birds being raised ahead of spring are at huge risk from bad weather and food shortages as winter continues.