Cicada Communications has secured a Royal endorsement for National Insect Week.
Prince Charles has agreed to host and attend a ‘Bioblitz’ with Cicada at his Clarence House residence to celebrate National Insect Week. Up to 30 schoolchildren have been invited to take part alongside nine entomologists, who will assess the health of the insect population in the royal grounds.
Cicada celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and has promoted National Insect Week for the Royal Entomological Society since 2004.
Di Burton, managing director at Cicada, said:
It’s all a very happy fit. Cicada is of course named after the insect that notoriously makes a chirpy noise, and it was the strength of our name that made us stand out to the Royal Entomological Society eight years ago. Since then we’ve got to know the Society inside-out and our campaigns have grown year-on-year. Prince Charles of course has been an environmental leader for nearly 40 years, so it’s fantastic that we’re all working together and it’s something of a coup for Cicada to secure the Prince.
Cicada is currently working on the fifth National Insect Week, which occurs every two years. Their 2008 ‘The Buzz is Back’ won a Not-for-Profit Campaign Gold Award at the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Pride Awards.
Di added:
National Insect Week is all about raising the profile of the importance of insects to our ecosystems, and there can be no higher profile than having a Royal seal of approval.
Cicada has attracted celebrities to the launch of National Insect Week every year that it has run, with David Attenborough, Katie Humble and Chris Packham all previous supporters.
Jane Chamberlain, account director at Cicada, said:
The Prince is well-known for his belief in the clear advantages of organic farming and gardening. His Royal Highness puts this belief into practice at the Duchy Home Farm and in his gardens at Clarence House. No artificial pesticides are used and he has planted 26 kilometres of hedges and thousands of trees at Home Farm to provide a valuable habitat for plants and wildlife, so he’s very in-tune with the importance of thriving insect populations to life on earth. We’re very excited to see what kind of a buzz the Royal Highnesses’ gardens create, and we’ll also report back on ways to make them even more insect-friendly.
