Les Jardiniers invisibles. Arnaud Ville

19 × 24 cm 224 pages 130 illustrations softback march 2021 retail price: 25 €

A graduate photographer and passionate nature lover, for more than twenty years Arnaud Ville has contributed to entomological inventories mainly in the Centre region of France, especially at the Chérine nature reserve. He has extensively exhibited and commented his photography for environmental awareness campaigns. He is the author of Petits des forêts, published by Rouergue in October 2018.

THE INVISIBLE GARDENERS

Arnaud Ville

Today, 40% of insect species populations are in serious decline, among them bees, ants, beetles, dragonflies, and butterflies. Before the end of the century all these insects could become extinct, leading to the catastrophic collapse of all natural ecosystems. Awareness of their fate is essential if we are to ensure their survival. Among the simple things we can do to help their survival is to start by giving them pride of place in the garden. By turning our gardens into havens for endangered insects, we will also find precious allies, invisible gardeners that take care of our gardens’ natural balance. Arnaud Ville is only too familiar with the reality of common insects. He has photographed and studied them for many years. In this book, he encourages us to think of our garden as a refuge. He entreats to look beneath stones, inspect the soil and sand, turn over the compost, and rummage amid piles of dead wood to discover insects at work. While creepy-crawlies may indeed make our skin scrawl, it is their diversity that helps create a happy, balanced, thriving garden. To forestall slugs or caterpillars’ nightly patrols, there is nothing more effective than a gang of ground beetles; to save our cabbages from ravaging greenfly, look no further than a squadron of ravenous lacewings. Arnaud Ville’s superb photography and delightful storytelling turn our gardens into theaters of epic adventure in which insects become the heroes not the pariahs.