Main content

Are insects the answer?

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap meet a of experts to discuss the environmental role of insects. Could insects help solve some of the problems we've created?

Insects are the quiet engineers of the environment - pollinating our plants, balancing our ecosystems and clearing up our waste. Some insects can digest plastic, and they play a vital role in crop production. At the same time their populations are under threat from pesticides, habitat loss and climate change. In this programme, Helen Czerski and Tom Heap explore the largely ignored world of insects. Could they be the answer to some of the environmental problems we have created? Would eating them help lower our carbon footprint, and will the western world ever overcome its squeamishness to the idea? Helen and Tom explore the weird and wonderful world of insects with a of experts.

Producer: Emma Campbell

Assistant Producer: Toby Field

Rare Earth is produced in association with the Open University

Available now

53 minutes

Last on

Last Friday 12:04

Featured

  • .

Broadcast

  • Last Friday 12:04

Find out if you’re a Net Zero Hero with the The Open University.

Find out if you’re a Net Zero Hero with the The Open University.

The Open University investigates human impact on the planet.

Podcast