ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a brief background to the characteristics of agricultural landscapes. These landscapes, which are shaped by man, can support a rich insect diversity when used extensively. Changes in agricultural practices, such as intensification and abandonment, and modification of landscape patterns pose a major threat to many insect species. Four cases from four continents are presented here as examples of how insect conservation can be performed in agricultural landscapes under different circumstances. The cases range from intensively farmed areas in Switzerland to extensively managed agricultural landscapes in South Africa, Mexico, and Japan and involve approaches for land sparing, land sharing, and restoration. Different measures, such as agri-environmental schemes, restoration projects, nature and biosphere reserves, monitoring, and conservation movements, are highlighted as ways to benefit and restore insect diversity in agricultural landscapes. For successful insect conservation in these landscapes, it is important to apply an array of different approaches, while also incentivising landowners to introduce and practice insect conservation. To halt further losses of insect diversity in agricultural landscapes, agri-environmental schemes and conservation measures in protected areas must be complemented by restoration efforts. Improving biodiversity in intensively used agricultural areas benefits conservation efforts and future farming, as it brings long-term ecological resilience to these important production landscapes.
