Bugs in all their freaky forms do a staggering range of critical jobs that keep the planet from, among other things, quickly becoming a massive pile of corpses and poo.

But humanity is nausing ’em, and we really, really need to stop nausing ’em. Yes, because bugs make it possible for almost all other animal species – including humans – to survive, but also because they are mesmerically wonderful in their own right.

At least that’s the view of this week’s guest, author and head of sustainable farming at the charity Sustain, Vicki Hird, whose new book “Rebugging the Planet” is a joyous celebration of all things creepy crawly and a manifesto for bringing the little critters back from the brink.

Discover more about Vicki’s book at www.rebuggingtheplanet.org and follow Vicki @vickihird on Twitter and Instagram.

Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.

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