During 2009 I’ve become increasingly absorbed by the alarming increase in the earth’s loss of biodiversity, particularly the decline in the bee population. I still can’t quite believe that the dodo is truly extinct and I truly don’t understand why the warnings in Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ were not heeded when her book was published in 1962. It seems so extraordinary that we don’t pay attention to warning signs even when they are all around us, for everyone to see.

The BGI has been working on ways to help raise awareness of these problems by making ‘bees’ one of the main issues we focus on when we visit schools. I have also been doing talks and workshops about the problems facing bees and the ways we can all help them.

Whilst it has been heartwarming to see how many people share my concern, it has been equally alarming to see how little information is actually being absorbed about the scale and urgency of the problem. I keep getting reactions like ‘I think I’ve read something about bees dying…is it a real problem then?’ or ‘How come no-one’s telling us what we can do to help?’  Very worrying.

It is very encouraging, therefore, to know that the UN have declared 2010 The International Year of Biodiversity.  Hopefully, this initiative will be embraced and taken up by governments, oganisations, businesses and individuals all over the world. It’s too late for dodos but maybe we could all step up our efforts to help save bees and other animals and plants from a similar fate.

Watch BBC4’s ‘The Dodo’s Guide to Surviving Extinction’ here.