Most people invest in outdoor blinds in Australia to give them shade from the sun, shelter from the rain, and plenty of privacy while they’re relaxing outdoors. But outdoor blinds are also excellent at keeping insects away. While our natural instinct is to kill every bug on sight, by letting them live, they can continue to play their very important role within the ecosystem, and that is good for all of us. We certainly need to do more to protect our insects.
Scientists suggest that insect numbers in Australia are on the decline, with anecdotal evidence pointing to a marked population drop across many species. It is thought that habitat loss, climate change and increased use of insecticide is to blame, with Australia’s frequent bush fires and drought also having an impact. This mirrors what is happening internationally: more than 40% of the world’s insect species face extinction over the next 20 to 30 years.
While this is probably good news for people with bug phobias, it’s actually bad news for the environment. Insects do a lot of good. They can pollinate plants, dispose of waste and control pests – genuine pests! Insects are also the sole food source for many of Australia’s native bird and reptile species; of the 20 birds on Australia’s threatened species list, 14 of them feed solely on insects. If insects disappear, so do these birds.
What we can do is learn to share our space with insects. Outdoor blinds are a great way for humans to enjoy their own bug-free space while allowing insects to keep on doing their thing elsewhere. The outdoor blinds now being seen in more and more homes around Australia are a very attractive way of putting a barrier between us and insects. Modern outdoor blinds in Australia are striking additions to outdoor areas, and they serve many purposes; protecting our dwindling insect population could be one of their more important functions in the near future.
