I am Vicki Hird MSc FRES (@vickihird), author of the new book ‘Rebugging the Planet’, and a major bug lover. I wrote the book to help everyone anywhere do some rebugging – enticing the vital invertebrates back into our lives for the planet’s, and our sake. It started with 50 tips to help the insects and became a book and a campaign of sorts to support all the other fantastic campaigns.
I don’t only write about bugs. I am also Strategic Lead on Agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts and was Head of Sustainable Farming for Sustain- the alliance for better food and farming, and have over 30 years’ experience working on environment, food and farming and justice issues. I am also a part-time expert consultant for NGOs and institutions (including work for RSPB, World Animal Protection International, Greenpeace International, and the Sustainable Development Commission). I advised and was featured in the new film Six Inches of Soil and wrote several chapters for the associated book.
In the past I have led the Land use, Food and Water Programme for Friends of the Earth EWNI and was Director of Policy and Campaigns at War on Want. I have launched many major food and environment campaigns – in the UK, EU and internationally. Some have won awards, others have been successful, and far too many have not (yet). I’ve published numerous reports, blogs and articles over the years. 20 years ago I published ‘Perfectly Safe to Eat? the facts on food‘ (Women’s Press, 2000) all about how the food system needs to change and it still does… See my food and farming blogs. Around the same time, I founded Sustain and became its Policy Director having Coordinated the SAFE Alliance, one of the founding organisations in the 90s.
I would not call myself a bug expert – there are so many amazing people working on invertebrates who I drew on for the book. But I have degrees in Biology (BSc) and pest management (MSc) and am a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. I am a trustee and was the Chair of Eating Better, was a trustee of Pesticides Action Network and the Keo Foundation, and have sat on numerous government advisory groups over the years.
I live in North London, UK I have two boys and a tiny garden full of bugs (see more of them here) . I hope you enjoy my book and if you want to get in touch do comment on these pages.
