What is happening to Namibia's insects?

Twenty, thirty or forty years ago, one couldn't ignore Namibia's wealth of insects. On summer nights during the rains, the remains of insects so peppered our windscreens that we often had to stop and clean them, at least so that we could see and avoid the many nightjars then on the roads. Many farmhouses used electric buzzers to kill insects attracted to lights on their verandas.

I think most long-term residents would agree with me that we have witnessed a huge change across much of Namibia – for the worse! Many people also note the loss of insectivores, such as frogs, nightjars, and swifts and swallows – another indication that there a far fewer insects around these days. From a brief survey of opinions regarding insects, I received these comments.

1. Uli Hoffman, west of Tsintsabis: I don't see as many big bats as I saw 10 and 20 years back, and the insects and moths are fewer than years before!
2. Wayne Hanssen, Okonjima: We commented on the decrease in all the insects and bugs that used to plague us during this time of the year. And yeah, over the years we've been noticing it.
3. Lise Hanssen, Zambezi: Nothing close to the clouds of insects around light bulbs that I used to experience back in the day.
4. Albert Voigts von Schutz, 50 km north of Maltahöhe: What we see today is not only a clear reduction in overall numbers, but also a dramatic loss in diversity. When there are many insects now, they are usually dominated by just one or two species, often a single moth species. I would not be surprised if we have lost around 95% of the nightjar population over the past four decades.
5. Helen Newmarch, Okonjima: A general overall decline of many invertebrates, not just insects.
6. Ursula Bryson, north of Witvlei: For the last 12 years we have seen a decline in insects. Yesterday we drove from Windhoek to Witvlei and had less than a dozen tiny insects and only two thick ones on the windscreen. We were appalled.
7. Wilfred Versveld, Windpoort, Etosha area: Since 2019 I have not seen or found any mopane moths or larvae.
8. Pete Morkel, south of Warmbad: Definitely far fewer insects in recent years, also fewer bats, nightjars and other insectivores.
9. Abby Guerier, Ongava, Etosha area: We certainly don't see emperor moths and mopane worms anymore. That's been for the last few years.
10. Mark Muller, northern Botswana: The abundance of insects 40 years ago is no more.
11. A farmer at Hamakari, Waterberg area: massive decline of insects.
12. Helge Denker, Gomnab, Derm area and general: We have certainly had fewer species and fewer quantities of insects during these rainy seasons, both at Gomnab and on drives to and from Windhoek.

These comments are anecdotes, rather than the result of scientific study, but we should not dismiss them as irrelevant. Instead, I think that we should be paying a great deal of attention to what is happening, and we should be rushing to find out why. Observations like these should spark rigorous inquiry.

First, the observations of long-term residents described above come from widely different areas and cumulatively reflect hundreds of years of experience. This is no flash in the pan! Second, what we see in Namibia mirrors the collapses of insect populations that have been documented in many parts of the world and reported in the scientific literature.

Third, even single experiences should open our eyes. For example, on a very ordinary evening in January this year I sat on the veranda of a bungalow at Okonjima, south-west of Otjiwarongo. Paradise was all around: good rains had fallen, and the plant life had responded in all its possible magnificence – the very Namibia we dream of. Yet something was missing. On such an evening I expected to see dozens of moths, flies, mosquitoes, beetles and bugs attracted to the veranda lights. There was not one! The absence was blatant, and shocking. Another reminder to pause, and to think.

Should we be bugged or bothered about the loss of insects? Some may say that these animals are of little interest or value. Certain insects are harmful to humans. Worrying about insects may also divert resources and attention from popular conservation priorities: stopping poachers, protecting rhinos and other charismatic mammals, and sustaining conservancies, protected areas, and fish harvests.

We can also satisfy ourselves that the demise of insects and other animals is due to processes way beyond our control, such as climate change – to which Namibia contributes little. We are not to blame, and we can't fix the problem!

Global studies find that habitat loss, crop agriculture, toxins (fertilisers, pesticides, pollutants and other poisons), and climate change (hotter weather, drought, and excessive rain) are major drivers of insect and other biodiversity loss. Urbanisation, invasive species, transport systems, and the over-enrichment of wetlands are other significant impediments on biodiversity.

Taking all these threats together gives us ample reason to be sure that Namibian life must be limited by at least one or more of those factors. Homing in to circumstances in Namibia, the most credible threats might be arable farming, climate change and habitat loss; the other threats are present but only in small, localised areas.

But even arable agriculture is limited to small areas of northern Namibia, and while habitats have been modified by cropping, bush encroachment, over-grazing and too little or too much fire, huge areas in Namibia are in pretty good shape.

And what about climate change? It must have effects, but being sure of its harmful impacts on a climate that is naturally variable requires some faith. Bear in mind that animals and plants in arid south-western Africa have adapted to overcome changing weather. If not, they would not be here. As an aside, if people need lessons on responding to changing climates, they should study our weather and the strategies used by plants and animals to live here. Namibia should be the earth's number one research station for studies on dealing with climate change.

In summary, I doubt we know of any real reason for the demise of Namibia's insects and substantial loss of the critical ecological services they provide for so many plants and animals and humans. In the absence of insects, how will thorn trees, marulas, welwitschias and others be pollinated?

Does this amount to ecological disaster? Namibia certainly has a problem. What should we do? We have three options: blame all of this on the general malaise of the world's environment over which Namibians have no control and minimal effect, ignore or deny the problem, or begin by asking some searching questions and then looking for answers.

I strongly advocate the question-and-answer approach. A first question: what particular types of insects and other animals (and perhaps plants) across the country are disappearing and where? Second, what drives those losses? Depending on answers to those two questions, what measures can be implemented to minimise or reverse losses?

We also have more than enough resources for that kind of work. Institutionally, we have two substantial publicly-funded universities that are obliged to do research, several NGOs that devote their energies to environmental health, and a publicly-funded ministry that is obliged to care for our natural environment. We also have substantial funding resources that could be employed for the task, especially in the public funds held by Namibia's Environmental Investment Fund (EIF) and our National Council for Research, Science & Technology (NCRST).

Namibia can't afford ignorance. Our abundant organisational and financial resources need to be matched by interest and willpower. There are many global problems we can't solve, but there are certainly local problems to seek and hopefully solve. In 1962 Rachel Carson famously said in nature nothing exists alone. In 2026, everyone in Namibia should know that insects do not die alone. Their departure may well signal other losses which humanity may yet face or must overcome!