From Kent to the continent: Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife launch their biggest ever survey season – now including France for the first time!
The UK’s popular insect citizen science survey is back - bigger, earlier and bolder than ever. Bugs Matter, the bug-splat-counting survey, organised by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife, launches on Wednesday 1 April and runs through to September. That’s a full month earlier than previous years, timed to coincide with Citizen Science Month and to capture precious early-season data.
In 2026, Bugs Matter continues its international journey. For the first time, the survey expands into France - joining the UK and the Republic of Ireland in what is becoming a cross-continental effort to understand the health of our flying insect populations. With France just across the Channel, Kent Wildlife Trust is perfectly placed to help lead this survey's expansion to the continent.
April launch is no April Fools’
April is Citizen Science Month globally, making it the perfect moment for thousands of people across the UK and beyond to pick up their phones, clean their number plates, and get involved. The earlier start also gives the survey a longer window to gather data across a broader range of seasonal conditions — crucial for building a more complete picture of insect populations.
Nationally, the Bugs Matter survey - which works by counting insect 'splats' on vehicle number plates after journeys - has already recorded a staggering 59% decline in flying insects sampled on vehicle number plates between 2021 and 2025, with analysis of more than 25,000 journeys showing an annual average decline of 19% over the same period. In Kent alone, nearly 2,000 journeys covering 64,545 kilometres point to an even steeper decline - an alarming annual average of 23% reduction in insect splats since the survey began.
Kent sits at the heart of one of the UK's most biodiverse regions - a county rich in ancient woodland, chalk downland, wetlands and coast, and home to species found nowhere else in Britain. Every journey recorded by a Kent driver in 2026 adds to a dataset that could help protect that natural heritage for generations to come.
Rosie Bleet, Ecological Evidence and Citizen Science Lead at Kent Wildlife Trust, said: "The expansion of Bugs Matter into France is hugely exciting, and given Kent's position as the gateway between Britain and the continent, it feels like a natural next step. The earlier April start allows us to capture crucial information about early emerging insects that we may have been missing, and account for seasonal differences as we begin our French Bugs Matter journey. Extending our survey season and growing our international reach means a better range of data, which will provide further insights into the plight of our insects."
Andrew Whitehouse, Head of Operations at Buglife, adds: "Bugs Matter is citizen science at its most beautifully simple — everyone with a vehicle and a phone can contribute. Launching in Citizen Science Month, and expanding into France for the first time, feels like a real coming-of-age moment for the project. Insects are integral to a healthy environment and to human health, so it is incredibly important that we understand how and why the abundance of insects is changing. The more people who take part the better the data is, so please download the Bugs Matter app and get involved."
Bonjour bugs! France joins the survey
The 2026 season marks a major milestone: the Bugs Matter methodology officially crosses to continental Europe. Citizen scientists in France will be able to use the same simple, free app to record insect splats on their journeys, contributing to what is becoming a wider European dataset. Insects don't carry passports. A hoverfly that visits flowers in Normandy may be on part of its annual migration and journeying to the UK. By expanding the survey across borders, Bugs Matter can begin to paint a more complete picture of how flying insect populations are faring across temperate Western Europe — and identify where conservation efforts are most urgently needed.
This expansion into France has been made possible thanks to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Imagine Grant 'Go Further, Faster' Award received by Bugs Matter at the end of 2024. The grant provides vital resources to non-profit organisations looking to deploy cloud technology as a central tool to achieve their mission goals, and is providing Kent Wildlife Trust with a combination of unrestricted funding, cloud computing credits, and engagement with AWS technical specialists - marking an important step in building a more complete picture of insect populations across temperate Western Europe, and the future expansion of the Bugs Matter survey.
How to take part
Joining Bugs Matter couldn't be easier, simply download the free Bugs Matter app (available on iOS and Android) as your first step.
Then, each time you plan to make a journey in your vehicle, follow these four simple steps:
- Clean the front number plate of your vehicle
- Start recording in the app before you set off
- After your journey, count any insect splats on the number plate
- Submit your results through the app — photo included!
The survey runs from Wednesday 1 April to Wednesday 30 September 2026, and is open to citizen scientists across the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and — new for 2026 — France.
Hairy shield bug © Chris Lawrence