"We are losing biodiversity at a rate unparalleled in human history." Global wildlife populations have sunk over 60% since 1970. We are destroying ourselves and taking nature with us. Time to protect people and the planet. #ActOnClimate #climate #biodiversity #nature

Farmers have figured out that the cheapest pesticide is a strip of flowers, and the scientists have verified it. Swiss researchers sowed flower strips through 10 winter wheat fields and compared them to 15 fields without. Cereal leaf beetle larvae dropped 40%. Second-generation adults dropped 53%. Damage to the wheat fell 61%. That pushed the pest below the threshold where spraying pesticides is even worth the money. A follow-up study on perennial strips found beetle larvae down 66%, and yield in the wheat beside them up 10%. The catch is that this only works when the strips are built for it. Those Swiss trials used specific plants chosen to feed specific predators: cornflower, coriander, buckwheat, poppy. A generic wildflower mix along the field edge doesn't reliably do this. The same principle scales down to a garden. Plant a strip of yarrow, dill, fennel, or mountain mint through the middle of your vegetable beds, not just around the outside. Then leave it alone and let the bugs go to work.