e. Around here it's habitat destruction and heavy use of pesticides.
There are some conservation and restoration efforts
snip
...
Alarm about firefly decline is inspiring recovery work. For centuries, fireflies have been central to Japanese poetry, art, and the Shinto belief that sacred spirits grace the landscape. But industrialization, agricultural runoff, pesticide contamination, and harvesting nearly wiped them out. Firefly hunters were selling their catch, sometimes 3,000 a night, to wholesale shops. From there the fireflies were bagged and delivered by bicycle courier to habitat-bereft cities where they were released for the public to enjoy and where they promptly died. That practice has been banned.
Japanese school children now raise fireflies and release them in proper habitat, and there are firefly festivals all over the country. Today Japanese fireflies are a symbol of environmental enlightenment and national pride. “While [they] have never been restored to their former glory days,” writes Lewis, “a predictably sad saga was transformed into a conservation success story by an impressive combination of national, local and private efforts.”
...
Comments