Openreach, the UK’s largest wholesale broadband provider and the owner of the nation’s second largest commercial van fleet, has today announced its involvement in the 2024 “Bugs Matter” survey. The national citizen science study is organised by Buglife, Europe’s largest invertebrate conservation charity, and Kent Wildlife Trust, the county’s leading conservation charity to raise awareness of insect conservation. The UK wide survey – which started on May 1st 2024 and runs until September 30th 2024 – encourages volunteer citizen scientists to measure insect splats (the number of dead insects) on vehicle number plates as a sign of insect abundance.

With a fleet of 29,000 vehicles which covers more than four million miles every year, Openreach has the potential to make a huge difference to the study and is aiming to double last year’s input data by recording 4000 Openreach journeys alone. It’s hoped that this commitment, from one of the nation’s largest fleets, will inspire other businesses and organisations to get involved with the survey.

Already supported by a nationwide network of volunteer citizen scientists, the “Bugs Matter” study has been conducted on an annual basis since 2021, based on a reference survey by the RSPB in 2004. Analysis of records from nearly 26,500 UK journeys over this period shows a continuing decrease in insect numbers, with the number of insect splats nationwide in 2023, 78% lower than that of 2004. By logging their 4000 journeys, Openreach will help expand this dataset significantly and generate even more crucial data on flying insect populations across the UK.