From the food we eat and the clothes we wear, to clean water and healthy seas, the invertebrates really matter. They are vital for crop plant pollination, soil structures, as predators of key crop pests, and turning waste products into valuable nutrients. And they also enrich our lives as keystone species helping the wildlife we love to thrive and also through art and culture.

They are simply extraordinary. And without them we are unlikely to survive let alone thrive. Yes, some can be a big nuisance, but in many ways we have gone so far researching and working out how to kill a few that we’ve forgotten to protect the rest. In fact we are often harming them.

Studies looking at local and regional abundance and diversity are suggesting some dramatic declines. Some suggest that we are seeing a major loss of numbers and diversity globally as well as local losses. More research is needed especially in areas where not enough is known about what we’ve got, let alone what’s being harmed by massive land use change and climatic shifts.

Chemicals can not only hurt the helpful bees and bugs above ground but they can slow down the vital springtails and worms in the soil which allow it to work well. Everything from deforestation in the tropics to hedgerow removal in the UK all means fewer places for the invertebrates to live, hide, mate, eat and lay eggs.

It is usually the messiness of nature that matters. Our Earth has become too tidy and uniform, with ever larger farms producing uniform crops.

Climate change is also creating problems for many species of invertebrate, too, as weather extremes can wipe out a whole population.

But it is not too late. The more people know about the importance of invertebrates the better. And everyone can do something to help – some things take little or even no time at all. Here are nine (mostly) easy things you can do to help.